No Soft Lights
by Anastasia-G
Summary: "It's funny, it's hysterical the melody-less-ness of her dance (don't tell nobody, don't tell a soul)." Bonnie dies and comes back determined to take Klaus down for good. But the more she sees of the Original Hybrid, the more she discovers things about herself, and that she may have far more in common with Klaus than she realizes. Bonnie-centric S3 redo. **Klonnie**
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** **This is my belated contribution to Klonnie Week 2K15 inspired by a thefudgeisgrumpy's gifset. 1/10 oneshots of Klaus and Bonnie post S2. So basically a S3 rewrite but, as always, I play fast and loose with TVD canon so if you notice something missing or different just go with it. I'm really focusing on Bonnie's feelings about dying or nearly dying at the 70's dance since I imagine that would've had a huge impact on a young girl's psyche (i dont really like her whole dying for Elena bit so i've honed in on Bonnie's personal feelings of isolation and depression). Hope y'all enjoy! [the quote in the summary is from Ntozake Shange's "for colored girls who've considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf".]**

 _**~o~o~**_

 _"It's not the pale moon that excites me_

 _That thrills and delights me, oh no_

 _It's just the nearness of you" - Ella Fitzgerald_

* * *

 _I died. I died and came back. All because of him._

Bonnie didn't feel much these days, except when Klaus crossed her mind. A sudden, boiling, frustrated rage would wash over her whenever she thought of the cunning and powerful hybrid and how he'd managed to evade death. Really she should be mad at Elijah for going back on his word, but it was Klaus whose face burned into her dreams, whose voice haunted her waking hours. Klaus was the one who'd lied to all of them and twisted their lives for his benefit like a sick puppet master. She stayed up nights by herself reading everything she could get her hands on about the original hybrid and his family, poring over old manuscripts and grimoires and asking the Spirits for help in finding a way to destroy him.

He had to have a weakness. Everyone did. And she swore she would be the one to find it. It gave her purpose and meaning and something to focus her energy on. She became a hermit, sitting glassy-eyed through her classes until she could get home and bury herself in research about Klaus and his long, colorful life. Grams had had quite a collection of old witches' journals and manuscripts that proved quite useful, and late at night long after her father was asleep Bonnie sat up reading by lamplight and candlelight, translating between Latin and French and Dutch with the help of Google and several huge dictionaries.

She discovered that Klaus had several dalliances with witches (and powerful ones at that). She read about how charming and beguiling he was, and that he taught Botticelli how to paint. One witch named Helene guiltily wrote rapturous paragraphs in French about his skills in the bedroom. _Le petit mort_ , she wrote over and over again. The little death. It was an apt phrase for what happened to Bonnie the night of the 70's dance. She'd felt the life leaving her body, and for one terrifying, dizzying moment she'd wanted to let go, to feel her soul lifting up and out forever. Was love like that?

When she wept over Jeremy's body and brought him back from the dead, she expected love and relief to flood her whole being. Instead, her fear of losing him and her own desperate desire to have something for herself had been replaced not with joy, but with...emptiness.

No, she didn't feel much these days. Except an all-consuming need to take down Klaus Mikaelson.

So when Caroline tried to invite her to a party she turned her down. But Caroline was stubborn in her own way and refused to leave until Bonnie got dressed and came with her.

"What is all this stuff anyway?" Caroline said picking up a page from the pile scattered around Bonnie's bed.

Bonnie snatched it back and stuffed it into a drawer, mumbling about research and "important witchy stuff."

"Bonnie, I don't know how to say this, but you're starting to look less like a cute new-agey witch and more like the hansel-and-gretel-lure-kids-with-candy kinda witch. See?"

She followed the blonde's gaze into the mirror and jumped. She hardly recognized herself, her eyes had a haunted, sunken look, her curls were dry and coarse, and - horror of horrors - her knees and elbows were ashy!

Caroline nodded, vindicated. "Get your ass in the shower while I pick out a dress. Move Bennett."

Being in a crowd after so many weeks alone was jarring. Bonnie found a quiet spot and posted up with her strawberry daiquiri. Her newly washed hair was was pulled into a tight top-bun, and she was wearing a nice dress for the first time since the 70's dance. Caroline called her outfit "funeral clothes" but they suited her mood: a plain black dress that hit just above her knee and a soft grey cardigan.

She watched the crush of teenage bodies dancing and drinking and groping each other under the outdoor fairy lights and wondered if she would ever feel like them again. She was supposed to be in the flush of her youth, but the most alive she could remember feeling was when she lay dying on that cold tile floor. Maybe she was too broken inside to feel anything except when she was kissing death.

It was then she saw Klaus standing across the way, talking to Tyler as if he didn't have a care in the world, and Bonnie thought she was finally losing her mind. She froze in place, unable to think, until his slow gaze swiveled her way. He smiled like the devil that he was, said something to Tyler and started walking in her direction.

Panic seized her and her first thought was to lead him away from this crowd of friends and innocents. Whatever confrontation he had in mind, she wanted to ensure as less collateral damage as possible. She glanced over her shoulder and quickened her steps. Klaus was following, sliding easily between the crowd like a knife through butter. He wasn't using vamp speed, like he was confident about reaching her eventually.

"Move!" she hissed at idle teens grinding on each other.

"What's your problem bitch?" some beefy guy with slicked-back hair loomed in front of her and she shoved him, hard.

"Hey!" he grabbed her arm and yanked her back like a rag doll. Her hair came half-undone as he shook her and she aimed a blind fist that somehow connected with his jaw. He swore but only tightened his grip on her, yanking her chin up.

"Slow down," he sneered, "dumb freak bitc -," the magic burst out of her palm with an anger of its own. He was slammed back into a tree with a sickening crunch. Blood trickled down his neck. Someone screamed and a crowd gathered. Dozens of eyes fixed on her in horror and shock. Before she could say a word she felt an iron grip on her arm. The world melted into a blur of color.

When she blinked again she was standing on the other side of the woods, at the edge of the lake.

Klaus released her arm and she staggered back. After so many nights reading about him, here he was. In the flesh. Her heart was pounding and adrenaline rushed through her veins.

"You can thank me later, ," he grinned at her disheveled state.

"Thank you?" she spluttered, "you're the reason...everything is wrong because of you!"

He raised an eyebrow, "That's quite a charge considering what you just did to that boy. I was impressed." His voice dropped lower as if in admiration. Bonnie shivered.

"I was trying to get you away from a crowd of innocent people. That was self-defense."

"I know a thing or two about self-defense."

Her disbelief must have shown on her face. He smiled but there was a strange glitter in his eyes, "I've had to protect myself from the time I was old enough to walk. Or didn't your late night research reveal that little detail? Ah, I see it didn't. Nothing like a primary source, as the historians say. I do hope I've been an entertaining subject."

He must have had her followed and noted her multiple trips to the archives. Of course. No matter what she did, Klaus was always one step ahead. Tiredness swept over her and she felt like a foolish, lost little girl. Well the lost part was definitely right.

"What do you want Klaus?" she asked, her fingers clenched and already gathering magic to launch a defense. "And if you're not trying to murder me tonight at least tell me where we are." She'd left her phone at the party and she estimated they were several miles from her house, which meant it would take all night to get through the woods and hitch a ride. Bonnie glanced around her again and realized she'd never been to this place before. The woods were thicker here, dark and lush around the bare shoulders of the lake. Starlight dappled the water and the air was cool and quiet.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Klaus kept talking, ignoring her earlier question, "I came here the night you almost killed me."

Her head jerked up.

"A thousand years I've walked this earth and that was the first time I felt alive, connected to nature and who I was always meant to be: a hybrid, immortal and indestructible," he closed his eyes and breathed long and deep like he was sucking the essence of the night into himself. His eyes opened languidly, "Can't you feel it?"

 _No_ , she wanted to say, _I don't feel anything these days except wanting you gone._

She looked around again, then up at the star-speckled sky. The heavens seemed cold and brilliant and unreachable and the forest breathed quietly around her.

"It's one thing to die and return as an immortal. But to die and return as you were...I would imagine makes for a peculiar kind of shock," he turned his head to look at her, his expression unreadable.

"I don't have time for your games, Klaus. Just tell me what you want."

"Close your eyes."

She raised her eyebrows. Of all the things she expected to come out of Klaus' mouth...this strange request was equal parts terrifying, surprising and intriguing. The rational side of her mind was pleading with her to run, but he would catch her easily...and then what? Or, she could do as he asked and play along. The worse that could happen was she'd die here and the stars would be witness instead of the florescent lights of a high school gym. At least the scenery was better.

At first all she could hear was the thumping of her own heart and the crickets chirping. But gradually her heartbeat grew low and deep until she could feel each pulse through her veins. Her fingertips tingled and a slow flush crept along her neck. The forest was alive and throbbing around her, the whisper of each leaf raising goosebumps on her skin. Bonnie felt herself sighing long and lushly as nature's energy seeped into her pores and awakened her numbed senses.

She'd forgotten what this felt like. The slowly building rush was almost too much, an almost painful awareness climbing higher and higher, but this was no _petit mort_ , this was the opposite, her body returning to the feel of magic and what magic was at its core: life itself. And she realized it wasn't just the lake and the woods she felt, but Klaus too, his raw power and wolf energy all mixed in with the earth and sky. It was all too much, as though each star in the sky was a tiny knife stabbing sensation back into her.

Bonnie took a deep, shuddering breath and, pulling her cardigan closer around her, opened her eyes to find Klaus watching her.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Let's just say I've been doing my own research," he said casually, though she knew better than to believe anything was casual with Klaus.

A wolf howled nearby and she jumped.

"It's late, little witch," he said, suddenly closing the distance between them to slide a strong arm around her waist, "And I have miles to go before I sleep," Her words of protest were lost to the wind as vampire-speed blurred the night into an erratic wash of colors. Head spinning, Bonnie held tighter to the only solid thing she could.

They came to a stop only heartbeats later and she raised her head from his shoulder, dazedly pushing her tumbling hair out of her eyes.

"Goodnight, love."

She tried to see his face in the moonlight but he was gone. It took her a moment to realize she was standing on her front porch and that the warmth that lingered around her was the only trace left of the man who'd brought her home.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up."

"Let them go, it's me you want."

Klaus ignored her request, his voice growing low and deadly, "I assume you're the reason Elena's still walking around alive."

Bonnie took the smallest step, trying to make herself a shield between Klaus and the frightened people behind her and thanking the spirits that Elena was safe at the boarding house, "That's right. If you wanna blame someone, blame me." She stared him down, earnest and determined. Maybe he could be reasoned with if she could just talk to him...figure out a solution that would cause the least amount of harm...

"There's no need for blame, love. It's just your witchy interference seems to have caused some undesirable side effects and since you caused the problem, I'm gonna have you find the fix," his dimpled grin was all the more terrifying due to its disarming quality.

She swallowed. Everything was wrong, and now people were in danger because of her. She should've done something, tried harder. Before she could plot her next move, a tall blonde who Klaus introduced as his sister Rebekah strode in, dragging Tyler with her.

"Leave him alone!" Matt tried to lunge at Klaus but Bonnie shot out her arm and stopped him. Her earnest but misguided friend didn't know what she knew, that nothing they said or did now would change what Klaus had planned. She remembered the powerful pulse of energy radiating from the hybrid that night in the woods, and realized she'd only scratched the surface of his capabilities. As he grabbed Tyler by the back of the neck, using just one hand to hold the werewolf easily in place, her fear turned into something else, something poised and alert.

"I'm going to make this very simple. Every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. It's quite horrible actually," Klaus bit his own wrist and they could only watch in horror as Tyler was force-fed his blood. Bonnie felt Tyler's terror and helplessness, but she couldn't move, couldn't even bring herself to look away. The old Bonnie would've screamed or wept or both. Instead she could only watch and wait for Klaus' next move, like they were opponents in a cruel game of human chess. She wasn't sure if she wanted to play, but she was here, and she had no intention of forfeiting.

Klaus maintained his headlock on Tyler, forcing Bonnie to meet his gaze, to acknowledge his strength, his clear upper hand. He was flaunting his advantage, baiting her transparent desire to be the hero, the savior, and she knew, she expected, what he would say next: "I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie." She could almost hear his unspoken words. _What will you do now, little witch? How far will you go this time?_

For a second when their eyes locked she felt his remorseless purpose undercut with impatience, maybe even fear. But just as quickly, it was gone, and his gaze became icy.

"And for Tyler's sake, you better hurry."

He cracked a half-smile before snapping Tyler's neck.

* * *

"You're gonna do what?"

She paused strapping the weights around her waist to look up at Matt. In the flickering bluish light by the pool his sweet puppy-dog face was pinched with worry. "I'm gonna try to get an answer from the witches. If they won't talk to me when I'm alive, maybe they'll pay attention if I'm dying." Bonnie resumed her task, cinching the straps as tight as she could.

He frowned, "and what if I can't get you in time, Bon? What if ...," he swallowed the word 'die' as if it was one weight too many.

She finished attaching the last dumbbell to her waist and winced at the strain on her body. Matt was watching her with deep concern and she reflected on the absurdity of a world that could hold someone as guileless as Matt and as calculating as Klaus. Matt had no idea, bless his heart. He would've launched himself at Klaus and ended up with nothing but a broken neck because he truly believed there were simple and brave solutions to all their problems. He didn't know that in order to beat someone like Klaus, you had to meet them at least half way.

"You don't have to do this Bon," Matt pleaded again, "fuck Klaus. We can find some other way, maybe Damon or Stefan can -,"

"Matt," she hushed him with a hand on his cheek and spoke gently, "if I don't do this, Klaus is just gonna keep hurting our friends until he gets what he wants. Maybe if he finds out how to make hybrids, maybe if I can give him that, he'll leave us all alone." She knew the answer would never be that simple, but Matt believed her and that was enough. She could carry the burden of knowing that heroes only existed - that she only felt alive - when lives hung in the balance. And maybe that made her as bad as Klaus.

She kissed his cheek, "I need you to be my swim buddy again okay? Just like when we were kids."

He nodded reluctantly, scrunching up his face in a failed attempt to look calm.

Bonnie tried to offer him a reassuring smile but her face faltered and all she could manage was a pat on the shoulder. With her back to him, she faced the gem-like blue gleam of the pool that seemed both innocent and deadly. She could die again, and the thought made her heart pound like a drum. But if she could just get through to the witches...hear their voice, receive a message...She didn't want to think about the other alternative: where darkness and death took her with an unbroken silence. This had to work. It had to.

Closing her eyes and imagining that she smelled forest leaves and lake grass instead of chlorine and gym lockers, she jumped.

Her physical self fought against sinking, kicking and twisting as the weights dragged her inexorably down. She tried to focus on the deep roar of the water in her ears until her feet touched bottom and then she was alone with the stillness, alone and waiting for her breath to run out so she could maybe hear an echo of a witch's voice. Alone. Just like she was on land.

And that's when it hit her, all the crushing loneliness of being the only Bennett witch in Mystic Falls since Grams died, all the secrets and histories she didn't know, all the images of herself she never saw, all the companionship and knowledge she could only long for but never remember having.

Her body was in distress now, nerves firing as it fought in vain to stay alive. She tried to think about a starlit forest and quiet lake and being surrounded by ten generations of Bennett witches, their voices soaring into the night sky. It was a longing deeper than memory and too fierce for reason. A longing for her family, her _kind_.

 _Go on, tell the child._

 _She's not ready!_

 _Well she about to be dead soon._

 _Tsk! Stubborn, headstrong girl._

 _She's your granddaughter that's for sure._

 _Ha!_

Bonnie fought to be heard but it was too hard. Her lungs were burning and her chest felt like it would burst.

She called out for her grandmother with everything left in her. _Grams! Please_

 _She's not ready._

 _I AM ready!_

A chorus of deep-throated laughter surrounded her. She was dying. Water was filling her lungs now. And then she saw their faces. A sudden clarity took a hold of her, seizing her entire body even as she lingered seconds from death. It was a clarity more searing than a knife, a knowledge heavier than any weight she had ever bound to herself.

* * *

"I was wondering when you'd show up."

Bonnie got up from the fallen log she'd been sitting on as Klaus appeared in the glen. It was almost moonrise, still enough time to save Tyler. The lake waters made her anxious after having nearly drowned to death only hours ago, but this was the only place she knew her friends wouldn't find her or see her. After what she was about to do, she may not have any friends left.

And besides, Klaus was right about one thing: it was beautiful here.

He glanced around as he swaggered over to her. "You look like someone trawled you off the lake bottom," he casually flicked her damp hair off her shoulder "and you're here alone. How intriguing."

Again with that smile that concealed so much ruthlessness. Bonnie took a few steps back and pocketed her hands in Matt's oversized hoodie. The rest of her clothes were still damp against her skin.

"You're alone too," she countered, "and I don't just mean right now. You've been alone longer than I've been alive, haven't you?"

"Hardly a vast expanse of time."

"All this time," she went on, ignoring him, "I just couldn't understand why you do all these horrible things. How you have no remorse about hurting people because the end justifies the means. I didn't understand what end that could be. Then I tied weights to myself and jumped into a pool so I could force the witches to talk to me."

The faintest surprise crossed his face before it became a mask again.

She reached in her bag and took out the bottle wrapped in red cloth. Still warm. He reached for it slowly, as though he didn't quite believe it.

"Elena's blood," she explained, "just enough to save Tyler, and to make at least five more hybrids."

"And how do I know this isn't some witchy trick to delay me?" he raised an eyebrow, but she could tell he was fumbling for an explanation. In a small, twisted way it pleased her that she had shocked him so thoroughly.

"You don't," she admitted, looking down at their hands holding the bottle of blood, hers small and brown, his long-fingered and powerful. She slowly uncurled her fingers, "But I know what it's like to be alone."

She couldn't read his expression. She didn't want to. He'd drawn her into enough games for today.

"Of course," she added, raising her chin and squaring her shoulders, "this is just a temporary solution until I find a more permanent one."

Klaus looked amused at that but there was something else there too, almost a faint gleam of admiration. It made her uncomfortable. "I've been pursued by ten centuries of angry and powerful men hellbent on my destruction, and witches too."

"None of them were me," she stated with a boldness she didn't quite feel but made herself believe. Briefly she thought of the witches in those journals who'd been his lovers. No, definitely not her.

"In that case, little witch -," he grabbed her around the waist and sped off with her again, and again Bonnie had no choice except to trust his hold on her. Klaus released his grip when they reached her front door and traced her cheek with the back of his finger. It was such a swift and delicate motion she barely registered it happening. " - I look forward to our next engagement."

He lingered just long enough for her to catch his strange smile before disappearing into the night with the new boon she'd given him.

A gust of wind swept through the trees and she closed her eyes briefly, feeling the shift of things as somewhere deep in the night, a music of wolves filled the air.

She shivered from her damp clothes and the sudden change of Klaus's warm body for the cool breeze. Her Grams' voice came back to her from the pool.

 _There's no balance without transformation._

* * *

I'm overwhelmed by all your reviews! Thank you lovelies! It's wonderful knowing there's so much love for Klonnie out there. Special thanks to my beta-bae Cait xoxox.


	3. Chapter 3

"Earth to Bonnie." Caroline's pert voice raised in annoyance.

Bonnie was trying, she really was. The 20's decade dance was in two weeks and Caroline of course was the chair of the planning committee. Tyler had been incognito for a couple weeks and Caroline was channeling all her worry and anxiety into planning the best possible dance. Unfortunately, that meant that she and Elena were forced to be at her beck and call everyday after school.

"Sorry. Catering. Got it right here...," Bonnie mumbled and flipped through her notepad, trying to make sense of her own handwriting.

"You ok?" Elena looked up from where she was taking inventory, "do you wanna talk-,"

"I'm fine," Bonnie smiled bright and hard until they stopped asking. Another hour crawled by agonizingly slow and Caroline was finally satisfied. The girls invited her out for a burger at the Grill but she excused herself, holding up her muddy running shoes and gym bag.

"Umm where've you been running? Those shoes look like man vs wild," Caroline narrowed her eyes.

"The park. It gets rainy sometimes," Bonnie pretended to check her watch, "gotta go. Call me later, bye!"

She hurried out and headed for the bus stop before they could ask more questions or cajole her into getting dinner with them. They were undoubtedly talking about her, how spacey she's been lately, how she dropped out of the swim team trials, how she's been cutting gym class but going running everyday after school. She'd hoped that helping Caroline with the dance would make things easier.

Bonnie switched buses a few miles away from school and settled in for the ride, wondering if her friends would think to follow her one day.

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy their company anymore, or that she didn't care for them, but things had changed, she had changed. If they knew what she'd done to give Klaus that bottle of blood, what she'd been willing to do...They wanted her to be practical and reliable Bonnie Bennett, the safety valve in all their plans, but they also wanted her to be their secret weapon, their knife in the dark. They wanted a sweet and steadfast friend who could be a fierce, vicious opponent for their enemies. No one had ever taught her how to balance those two opposing sides of herself. When she had first learned of her powers, she'd been excited and full of purpose, and the world had been easily divided into vampires and humans, light and dark, good and evil.

Until she died and came back to kill Klaus, someone who was both vampire and werewolf and maybe even twistedly human. Every time she faced off with him, the world became a little more grey and a lot more complicated.

* * *

It was late afternoon when the second bus dropped her off at the outskirts of town.

She put on her shoes and started to run, falling into the heavy, comforting rhythm of her feet, the gravel, the breath in her lungs, the sweat forming on her skin. The first time she'd run this route almost two weeks ago, she'd ended up lost and had to take a cab home. But now the landscape was growing slowly familiar. She was beginning to notice landmarks: an old fence covered in ivy, an abandoned well, a fallen tree covered in moss. It was a dirt path cleared by nothing except her feet, and she had the cuts and scrapes to prove it.

The forest thickened suddenly around her like it always did, and her senses grew heightened and sharp with awareness. She kept her eye out for any sign of Tyler. She knew chances of her randomly bumping into him in the woods were slim, but no one had seen or heard from him since that night at the gym...Had Klaus given him the blood? Was he a hybrid now, and bonded to Klaus? Would he be unrecognizable when they saw him again? What would Caroline think if she knew that Bonnie was responsible?

Questions pattered like raindrops in her head and she pumped her arms harder, leaves whipping her damp face as she rushed by. Her foot caught on a tree root and she fell face first into the dirt and moss. This happened at least twice when she ran this way but she'd learned to get right back up and keep going. She forced herself to go even faster, just a half mile more, and then the forest opened suddenly until she was standing where she always ended up, the place that kept drawing her back, the only place where her thoughts could breathe easily, the glen where Klaus had brought her after that party, and where she'd given him Elena's blood.

The silent openness of the lake and trees welcomed her knowingly. There was something about this old and quiet place that was oddly comforting, like there were stories upon stories under the serene surface of water and woods, like the glen had seen and lived through too much to care about her small secrets.

It was a humid day, and the water looked enticing. She hadn't gone swimming since jumping into the pool. She hadn't felt ready for that kind of vulnerability again. Still, the lake waters seemed different, inviting even, dark and serene.

And there was no one else here...again. Just like there'd been no one else here last week, or the week before. Not Tyler, and definitely not Klaus.

A breeze rustled the leaves in a seeming soft laughter and she felt unreasonably annoyed. God only knew what he was doing with that precious blood, and whether Mystic Falls was going be overrun with bloodthirsty hybrids any minute now. He could at least have the courtesy of letting her know how her friend was doing and if said friend was now going to kill them all. But instead Klaus had been mysteriously persona non grata, and while her friends were relieved, she didn't quite know what to feel. And that not-knowing was an awkward feeling: a little grey, and very complicated.

"Where the hell are you Klaus," she muttered, kicking a rock into the lake. It bounced despondently and disappeared into the water. She glanced around her again. Nothing.

Wiping mud off her cheek, Bonnie surveyed the damage to arms and legs from falling earlier. Her knees and palms were scratched, and there was probably a bruise forming at her side. Peeling off her shoes and socks, she dipped a toe in the water.

Her practical mind rattled off all kinds of questions. What if there were eels? What if she cut her leg open on hidden rocks and bled to death out here where no one could find her?

 _Fuck it._ She was tired of questions. Stripping down to her bra and underwear she walked along the edge of rocks until she was fairly sure the water was deep enough to dive. Better to face your fears head-first. She gulped. Literally.

Taking a deep breath, Bonnie bent her knees and leaned forward, poised to break the surface of the water cleanly and confidently. Her toes lifted-

"Wouldn't do that if I were you, love."

She yelped and fell in with an unceremonious splash.

Every curse she knew was rattling through her mind before she came back up. Why didn't she know any spells to turn into a fish? Then she could swim quietly to the other shore and disappear.

Bonnie peeked her head out of the water, trying to appear calm and breezy like she hadn't just tumbled into a lake in her underwear. "I'd appreciate some privacy actually."

Klaus stood on the shore, looking perturbed.

"You've had your fun, now get out of the lake and get dressed."

She bristled, moving her arms to float further from the shore, "You know last time I checked, you didn't own the lake."

"Come out or I'll pull you out myself," he thundered.

 _Oh no he didn't._ She smiled all fake-sweet, starting to swim away, "Try to come near me and I pop every blood vessel in your brain."

He pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something about stubborn witches.

Bonnie went under again just as he kicked a rock in an almost comical imitation of her earlier frustration. When she came up for air he was still in the same spot, looking at her with a mixture of frustration and impatience. It was disconcerting to say the least. Maybe there were eels in the lake.

"I can't keep you safe like this," he glanced up at the darkening sky and back at her.

"Good thing I don't need your help," she responded, swimming towards the rocks again.

"Even against another hybrid?"

That got her attention. _Tyler._ Her blood ran cold.

"What have you done to him?"

"I seem to recall I had some help in that department," he pointed out.

"You tried to kill him!"

"And you saved him by any means necessary. Do you really think it makes a difference?"

"Yes it does! I was trying to save his life, you wanted to use him and throw him away. Where is he?" she was angry now, at herself, at him, at the fact that she was forced to have this conversation half-naked in a lake.

Klaus looked up at the sky and she followed his gaze. Even though it was still light out she could see it, the full moon, yellow and round and rising in the distance.

A shiver went through her and she asked again, "Where is he?"

As if in answer, a wolf howled somewhere deep in the forest. Klaus's head whipped around, trying to gauge its exact location. When he turned back to her she saw his eyes flash wolf-yellow for a second.

"Get out of the water, Bonnie," he said quietly "now."

He turned to scan the woods again and she seized the opportunity, hoisting herself onto the rocks and crouch-walking to her clothes, all the while trying to cover herself with her arms as best she could. Klaus seemed too distracted to look at her while she pulled on her shorts and tank-top, and she felt awkward about being awkward. He was a thousand year old hybrid who'd seen all manner of things and people. She knew because she'd read journals belonging to witches who'd shared his bed. Still that didn't stop the heat from flooding her face and she thanked the spirits he couldn't see her blush in this half-light.

"I can help you find him -,"

"I'm sure you could," his eyes lingered on the trail of water she squeezed from her hair, then back up to her, "but you're far more useful to me alive."

"Since when do you give me orders?" she crossed her arms, "if I remember correctly, it's my responsibility to protect my friends from you."

"Tyler is my responsibility now," he said in a tone that brooked no argument.

But she was undaunted. And furious.

"Like hell. You don't even know where he is. No! -," she knocked him back with a quick burst of magic as he made to approach her, pleased at his frustrated growl "You use people to get what you want, it's not right! I'm not a toy you can carry home when you're bored and neither is Tyler."

"Bonnie -," his voice held a warning.

"You think you have all the answers, don't you?" she hadn't realized how angry she was, how frustrated and tired and alone she felt. It was all his fault. If he hadn't come into her life none of this would've happened. If it wasn't for his insane obsession with power she would probably be out with her friends right now or studying her Grimoire or doing homework in her room or maybe even on a date. Content. Assured of her safety.

But that was a lie wasn't it? She'd chosen to do all those things, risen to the challenge and pushed herself to go beyond the normal and the everyday. She just hadn't realized that it was easier to fall off the straight and narrow than it was to get back. She was afraid of this new, grey, complicated world not because it was difficult for her adjust, but because she'd navigated it so easily. It was easier to be angry at him than accept just how much she'd changed, to think of him as an enemy rather than - she jumped as a low, deep growl startled her.

"Did you just growl at me?" she was outraged, ready to unleash a hell of fury on his head.

He was looking over her shoulder, frozen, and that's when she knew. The back of her neck prickled.

Standing behind her was the biggest wolf she'd ever seen. It's copper-colored fur and blazing yellow eyes would've been magnificent if it wasn't terrifying. Teeth bared, it growled at her again. "Tyler?"

Another growl, more menacing this time.

"Bonnie, run," she heard Klaus say, low and tense. But she ignored him. This was Tyler! Sure he was hot-tempered but he had a heart of gold and even helped old ladies cross the street. He was dating one of her best friends for heaven's sake. She searched for a glimpse of that boy in the wolf's fierce eyes and saw only rage.

"Tyler," she tried again, swallowing the tightness in her voice, "it's me, Bonnie. You recognize me, I know you do. Please -,"

The wolf lunged and she raised her arms, bracing for claws and teeth, but they never came. A grey blur intercepted and now there were two wolves, snarling and circling each other. The second wolf was larger and silver-grey in the twilight, tail swishing as it faced down the younger one. Klaus.

She started to edge backwards, eyes glued to the tense dance in front of her. Tyler kept lunging and snarling at Klaus while the latter side-stepped and growled back. The younger wolf was in kill mode but Klaus wasn't pressing his clear advantage of size and power, opting instead to deflect each attack. Clearly frustrated, Tyler tried to run around Klaus and get to her instead, but Klaus was too quick for him and they went down in a terrible mêlée of fur and teeth.

Bonnie ran. Her sore muscles burned with adrenaline as she leapt over obstacles in her path, clearing her way with quick spells when she needed to. Earlier she had welcomed the challenge of the forest and gladly endured the punishment of falling and faltering, but now she cut through it like a wild scythe, heart pumping and lungs on fire. There was nothing grey or complicated about this, this simple driving desperation to stay alive. A wolf howled long and terrible and the moon rose high above the trees. She didn't stop.

* * *

Her father had long since fallen asleep and the house was quiet. Bonnie sat down on the couch in her pajama shorts with a cup of chamomile tea, hoping the latter would relax her enough to go to bed. Grams used to make all kinds of tea for various occasions, and she swore by chamomile and lavender for good sleep. The tea-bag from Twinings however didn't quite soothe her like Grams' hand-cut brew, and she jumped when she heard a knock on the door, nearly splashing hot liquid all over herself.

Padding across the floor, she edged it open and saw Klaus standing on her porch, covered in leaves and dirt and looking a bit worse for wear. If he thought she was gonna invite him in just because he rolled around in some leaves and dirt -

"You wouldn't ah happen to have a shirt I could borrow?" he panted, like he'd been running or fighting hard, or both. Bonnie joined him cautiously on the porch, keeping her hand on the doorknob. Then she looked down and saw the seeping bloodstain on his shirt.

"Oh don't worry! it's not mine," he gestured glibly at the blood, "...mostly."

"Tyler -,"

Klaus leaned against the porch railing and tilted his head back with a sharp exhale. "He's fine. Sleeping like a baby." Eventually his breath returned to normal. "You were right, I don't have all the answers. And unfortunately for me, the illustrious Dr. Spock has yet to publish _Care for Newborn Hybrids_."

She sighed in relief.

"But I did mean what I said," he took a step closer to her, "Tyler is my responsibility, and I take that very seriously."

Bonnie found herself shrinking back against the doorframe, half twisting the knob behind her. He smelled like the woods and blood and musk and it made her slightly dizzy. "You came all the way out here to tell me that?"

Back at the lake when she'd been half naked he'd barely glanced her way. Now however...his eyes travelled carefully up and down her body like he was ensuring she was all in one piece. "No," he said softly. "Stay out of the woods, little witch."

She waited for the drop, the taunt, the challenge, but it never came. Instead it was the unvarnished sincerity in his voice and expression that caught her off guard and left her at a loss for a response.

She looked away from him almost shyly and changed the subject, "Well, I need to go to bed so... when Tyler wakes up, tell him to call Caroline."

"Until next time then." She glimpsed his half-smile as he turned away.

He swaggered off her porch, back to the the strange, shadowy world that was becoming increasingly, disturbingly familiar to her. Bonnie watched his tall, lean figure as it disappeared around the corner and thought of the powerful, grey-furred alpha wolf that had protected her in the woods. To see that raw power take form and shape in front of her eyes...

It took her breath away.

She shook her head and returned inside, closing the door behind her and bolting it for good measure.

When she picked up her cup of tea it felt lukewarm against the heat of her palms and the moon-bright humming of her senses. This grey and complicated place was confusing but - she remembered the storm-colored gleam of a wolf's pelt and the scent of living forest - there was sharpness there too, and a clarity she didn't know she was craving. Bonnie realized she didn't want to wash it down. She emptied her tea in the sink.

She wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight anyway.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you to all the reviewers and to the readers in general. I forget how many Klonnie shippers are out there sometimes so it makes me happy to see all of you enjoying this story. Viva la Klonnie! And thanks always to my lovely, amazing beta Cait. xoxoxoxo**


	4. Chapter 4

It was a perfect night.

There were sequined dresses and satin ties. Fresh flowers and pearl earrings. Lights and elegant streamers. There was even jazz, courtesy of the orchestra club and a moody lead singer in heavy eyeliner heavily channeling Lana Del Rey.

Tyler had shown up in a shiny new suit and hat, determined to charm the socks (and maybe more) off Caroline. The latter was now floating around the gym like a triumphant fuschia butterfly, flush with the success of the dance and with Tyler's eminent return. Elena was wrapped up in Stefan (literally) and swaying together in their own little world. Meanwhile Damon brooded in a corner, sipping from a hip flask and occasionally flirting with Rebekah. It was truly as perfect a night as Mystic Falls could provide.

So why did she feel like she was on the outside looking in?

Bonnie tried to dance, letting Matt twirl and dip her, shimmying her shoulders and tossing the black feather boa Caroline insisted on adding to her outfit. She could see all the faces glittering and smiling all around her, complimenting her on her dress, laughing with her as they spun and twirled.

It was nice. But that's all it was, _nice._

No matter how many times she laughed at Matt's jokes or swished feathers at Elena or spun around in her black patent heels, something just didn't click.

She was holding up a wall and sipping punch when Jeremy Gilbert's quiet voice spoke her name.

"Hey Bonnie."

"Jeremy," she was surprised to see him there. He'd been judiciously avoiding her (and most people) since they found out about Anna's ghost. "You're a little under-dressed," she said lightly, gesturing to his worn jeans and khaki jacket. "Don't let Caroline see you."

He adjusted the backpack on his shoulder and reached for her elbow "Can I talk to you for a second?"

She followed him into a stairwell and closed the door. Jeremy surveyed her outfit and smiled with his eyes, "You look nice."

"Thanks," her reply was automatic, too much so. His smile faded a little.

"So what's up?"

"I wanted to see you before I left."

She shrugged. "Okay. I'll just see you in class next week."

"Bonnie, I'm leaving town."

She turned and blinked, waiting for the flurry of emotions and words that would surely rise inside of her. Instead there was only an echo of something she remembered feeling, quickly snuffed by the detachment at her core. It shocked her how little she felt and she blinked silently at him for a few moments, scrambling for something to say.

"I'm going to Denver for a while," he continued, shifting his weight nervously, "I wrote Elena a letter. I think she knows anyway. But I didn't wanna leave without seeing you."

"You didn't have to do that." As soon as the words left her mouth she realized how dismissive it sounded. She quickly added, "what I mean is, you don't owe me anything Jeremy. Nothing more than you owe anyone else."

"Bonnie," he reached for her but withdrew his hand at her stiffness, "I owe you everything. I'll never be able to repay you, or make up for what I did-,"

"We both made choices," she cut in firmly, "I didn't save your life so you could feel guilty. I did it because I wanted to."

Her words sat heavy between them. He gave a self-deprecating smile, "I really screwed things up didn't I? You and me, I really wanted things to work Bonnie," he lowered his voice, "I still do."

"So you're leaving town to work on our relationship?" she asked. She didn't expect the coldness she felt in her own voice. It was startling and precise as a whip.

"I'm really messing this up," Jeremy muttered up at the ceiling then looked at her again, "I don't know how long I'll be gone, and you're too amazing to be single for long. But if there's a chance somehow, if I can come back to you with a clear head and a heart that's ready to love you the way you deserve... I know it's crazy but, you brought me back from the dead, I dunno," he ran a hand through his hair and tried to crack a smile, "Guess it made me a believer."

"Jeremy...,"

"You don't have to say anything right now. Just...think about it, ok?"

He enveloped her in a hug and this time she let him. His embrace was warm and sturdy like it always was, yet she felt more unmoored than ever. He was the first boy she really loved, someone who saw her when she'd felt like a shadow, who'd made mistakes but remained good-hearted. And he was leaving. She knew she should want to hold on, but there was nothing but lightness where his heart was pressed against hers. It was like he was the shadow now, and she could only watch him fade.

"You ok Bon?" he peered into her face when they parted.

"Yeah. I just need some air. It's been a long night." She managed a smile that wasn't entirely forced. Without the attachment of hungry emotions she could at least wish him well and mean it. "I'll see you around, Jeremy."

"See you," his answering look was gentle and hopeful.

She didn't look back.

* * *

Someone had chosen to end their life here.

Bonnie contemplated the concrete ledge of the roof before sitting down to dangle her legs over the edge.

She remembered the school memorial for the sophomore - her name was Emma - who'd climbed to the roof one winter evening and jumped. Ever since that incident the school had barred access to the roof with a hefty locking system, but of course the simplest of spells had granted her entry, and now she sat swinging her legs, the night breeze undoing wisps of hair from her bun and ruffling the gauzy layers of her dress.

The music was a low, sweet hum in the distance, and the clear night sky twinkled down on her in soft brilliance. It was peaceful and quiet. She wondered if Emma felt some of that peace before she jumped, if she'd been scared or indecisive, or if everything had been simple and clear from climb to fall.

A part of _her_ had jumped too, into death, into water, into uncertainty, and now there was no going back, no recovering whatever it was that had seemingly vanished into the air. She had jumped, and now what? There were moments she felt like a ghost, out of place and detached from everything around her that had once been so familiar and safe. Other times she came forcefully and almost painfully into her body, dizzy with strange longings and emotions. She was a witch whose center of gravity had fallen away, a keeper of balance with one foot in the past and another dangling perilously somewhere else. Who would she be, and what would the world look like when she found her footing again?

Someone had ended their life on this ledge, but hers felt like it was clamoring to begin. Demanding. Aching.

"Come up here often?" The now-familiar accent was a casual, unceremonious interruption.

"When I need some privacy," she said pointedly, her grip tightening on the ledge "what do you want, Klaus?"

"Well, to start, a reprieve from the musical stylings of Mystic Falls High."

She snorted, "I thought you loved the '20's," she mimicked his accent, " 'the style, the parties, the jaaazz."

"I'm surprised you remember such details from our little exchange that night."

"'Little exchange?'," she retorted, narrowing her eyes at him, "is that what we're calling it now?"

"Come on love, why argue?" he glanced around before resting a casual elbow on the ledge next to her like they were at a bar and he was settling in for a chat. "You know, I came up here dreading the prospect of interrupting any number of dreadful teenage trysts, of perhaps even surprising you in the arms of dear Jeremy Gilbert, and instead find you curiously alone," he smirked.

His words stung more than she cared to admit, but she schooled her face quickly before turning to him, "You know my Grams used to say, _better alone than in bad company_."

His eyebrows raised in mock-surprise and he leaned his head in, "Tsk tsk, and to think you snatched him from the jaws of death."

"I was talking about you," she said flatly.

"In that case," he gestured back at the door through which faint strains of music floated up, "hurry down. I have no intention of leaving this roof so I'm afraid you'll have to return to the dance if you want to escape me. Unless..." he drawled slyly, "unless there's something else you'd rather escape."

Bonnie really didn't need this. To be psychoanalyzed by Klaus Mikaelson of all people? It was annoying to say the least. She was perfectly capable of understanding her own emotions and feelings without his unsolicited insight.

Crossing her arms, she summoned as much dignity and aloofness as she could while sitting on a roof ledge in a costume party dress and heels. "You know what, there is something I wanted to escape. Self-centered boys who talk down to me like I'm some manic pixie dream girl. At least Jeremy's still a teenager, what's your excuse? _And_ if you're so much better than all of us, why are you even here?"

It crossed her mind briefly that she was being bold, maybe even reckless. She'd known Klaus to kill people for far less than a few tart words. Still, it felt good, exhilarating even to speak her mind, to unleash on him the sharp irritation she'd spared Jeremy.

Fortunately Klaus made no move to put her in her place, but he did regard her with an inscrutable glint in his eyes, "I'm here to make sure Tyler behaves at his first dance. Bad form to leave him unchaperoned."

She didn't bother to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, "So you're just some dad driving his kid to prom?"

"The correct term is "sire", but semantics aside I didn't really care for a repeat performance of your encounter in the woods. Although I must say he's handling himself remarkably well. I suppose I should thank you for ensuring he'd be my first hybrid."

"You can keep the thanks. I'm just glad he's okay."

"He's going to be more than that, soon enough," he promised, a conspiratorial look in his eyes like she was in on his plan. Even worse, like she approved of it.

She shuddered, looking away from him into the indifferent sky "I know what you're doing, bringing him here, dangling his old life in front of him. It's cruel and wrong, but...," she paused, glancing at the indolent figure he made, "... that's you."

Her voice trailed off and she stared down at her legs, swinging in the empty air. There it was, the squirmy, elusive feeling she'd been chasing all night laid bare in her own words. Klaus was a cruel and selfish bastard, but he made no apologies for his behavior. His moral compass or lack thereof was clear and unfazed. He knew who he was while she was trapped in this frustrating limbo of self-doubt.

His voice sounded soft and precise beside her, "'When I was a child, I thought, spoke and understood as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things," there was a pause like he was musing on the words.

"New Testament? I thought Elijah was the priest in the family," she responded.

"I find organized religion surprisingly instructive. And ruthless."

There was a certain terrifying ruthlessness to the idea of simply putting away one's childhood, like stuffing a broken toy under the bed with the same grimness that someone might shove a dead body in a closet.

But maybe there was something to be said for cutting loose and letting go. Jeremy had done it. While she sat here on a rooftop wishing she knew what to jump into, he was already leaving Mystic Falls behind in a rear-view mirror.

"It's really easy for you isn't it?," she said, twisting the string of feathers around her neck. "You're an immortal, probably the most powerful on the planet. Anything you want, you get." Closing her fist around the softness of feathers, she gave a small, vicious tug and they came apart easily in her hands."Anything that stands in your way, you destroy."

Uncurling her fingers, she watched the dark feathers slip away. Just like that. So satisfying and so very, very simple.

Klaus leaned forward on his elbows so they were both looking out in the same direction, "You're not immortal, but you're powerful. I should know, I remember. All that magic at your fingertips," he lowered his voice for more emphasis, "So why can't you live the life you want?"

She glanced at him in surprise and confusion. His deep-set eyes were burning into hers, searching for an answer she didn't think she had.

"It's not that simple," she whispered.

His gaze never wavered, "You can't live on shadows and rooftops forever, love. Sooner or later, you'll have to plant your feet," he nodded his head at the drop below them, "and pick a side."

Suddenly it was all too much. The dance, the music, Jeremy's hollow promises, the loneliness and heartache that had been festering inside her for months now, eating away at her resolve and transforming her through its dark and powerful hunger.

"I should be getting ho-," she made to swing her legs back over the ledge but her right foot hit the concrete too low and her shoe came off, almost causing her to lose her balance in the process. Klaus leaned over and caught the falling shoe in his hand.

It took a second to right herself and calm her spiked heart-rate. "Thank you," she managed, still a little out of breath.

Before she could move, he deftly slid the shoe back on her bare foot. Like with all of his actions, it was swift and economical, and she would've missed it completely had his thumb not grazed her ankle. If his touch lingered a beat longer than entirely necessary, she didn't want to dwell on that. She couldn't.

He was standing very close to her, one hand hovering above her knee as if to steady her if she started falling. Gradually her breathing grew even again.

He slid a finger under her chin and gently aligned their gazes. "Shall I see you home, love?" he asked quietly.

Her grip on the ledge tightened once again, though this time for an entirely different reason. The slightest move and she could tumble back off the roof, or pitch forward into him. His eyes were dark with some unreadable emotion.

In the end she brushed his hand away and stood up hurriedly, dusting off her dress. "No thanks, I-I'm fine.."

His demeanor changed as suddenly and smoothly as if nothing had happened. He pulled a rueful face though his sardonic grin gave him away."You'd leave me skulking around a group of hapless teens on an empty stomach?"

She narrowed her eyes, "I'd tell you go to hell but I don't think they'd take you."

He flashed her another grin and held out a hand, inclining his head towards the ledge "Would you like to take the easy way down?"

"NO," she stepped away from him decisively, "I'm going to walk home." Her heels clicked hard on the concrete to emphasize her point.

Klaus shrugged and fell into step beside her.

* * *

It was a perfect night.

A purple sky with faint stars canopied them on their walk. Bonnie had tried to keep ahead of him but she was a) wearing heels and b) shorter than him, so she'd settled for just keeping a brisk pace. Unfortunately, her shoes weren't exactly made for walking, and by the time they reached her house she was trying not to wince each time she took a step.

She leaned slightly on the fence, resting one ankle then another against her calf, while Klaus moved to stand in front of her, his jacket slung over his shoulder. "That's too bad," he gestured at her throbbing ankle, "I did offer you a ride."

Bonnie thought back to the times he'd sped her home, holding tight in his arms while the world blurred around them. "So now you're a taxi," she muttered, shifting her weight.

"Yes, well I'd keep that to yourself, love. Don't want every witch in town making me their own personal broomstick."

"Oh yes, wouldn't want that," she deadpanned, rolling her eyes. She slipped off her offending shoes and almost sighed when soft grass cushioned her bare feet.

"Better?" he teased.

She picked up her shoes, unlatched the gate and slipped inside before closing it soundly between them. "Much better," she said cheerily over the barrier.

Klaus regarded her with amused interest before brushing her neck with his fingers. The gesture was direct and smooth, unconcerned with the gate separating them. She shivered involuntarily as something tickled her earlobe, and his hand came away with a single feather that he proceeded to tuck into his vest. "Thanks for the walk, love," he said casually, his eyes dwelling on her far longer than his touch.

She opened her mouth to say this was all his idea in the first place, that she'd been prepared to walk home alone, that she hadn't asked for his company. Somehow none of that seemed to matter just then. So she just bit her lip and turned to the house, digging in her purse for her keys.

She was almost at the steps when his voice made her pause. Glancing over her shoulder, she caught his hooded gaze. He said it without preamble or caprice, like a simple, absolute truth:

"Jeremy Gilbert's a fool."

Bonnie felt her mouth twitch and part in surprise.

He sauntered off down the block while she stood there, feeling the ground beneath her feet.

* * *

 **This one took forever! I seriously wrote and rewrote this like four times before it was ready to publish. Apologies for the longer wait time, I want to do two of these a week but life got in the way plus Bonnie and Klaus aren't exactly easy conversationalists. Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this one! Drop a line and lemme know if you did. Thanks to all the lovely klonnie shippers paddling our little ship. And as always, my beta Cait gets the credit for urging me to push these one shots beyond my comfort zone. xoxox**


	5. Chapter 5

_"What is that song you sing for the dead?"_

 _\- Sufjan Stevens_

* * *

Bonnie glanced at Klaus out of the corner of her eye. They'd been driving in silence since they left Mystic Falls. He drove like he did everything else, with purpose, determination and just enough dangerousness to remind her that her life was in his hands.

"Something the matter, love?," he said casually after they'd passed a semi before narrowly missing an oncoming one, "you seem tense."

Bonnie exhaled slowly, releasing her death grip on the door, "This isn't the backwoods of whatever country you learned to drive in," she gritted out, "so unless you're trying to kill me-,"

"We both know I respect you far too much to kill you in a car crash," he smirked, giving her a sidelong glance.

" - slow the fuck down."

"Tsk tsk," he flashed a grin, "will you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

She was about to respond when he accelerated again, weaving the car between two pickup trucks and another semi in a burst of speed that pushed her back against her seat. As though their destination wasn't enough of a source of anxiety, he was clearly determined to make this the most anxious, if not obnoxious, car ride of her life,

He'd taken her home at vampire speed before (no seatbelt, no purchase except what her hands could grasp of his shirt, and only an arm holding her in place while they outstripped cars and people alike) and even that had felt more safe than this breakneck drive on the interstate.

Bonnie turned her head to watch the dark landscape speeding by them. Maybe if she distracted herself with the view she could ignore Klaus' driving...and the fraught destination rushing irrevocably towards her.

* * *

 _A few days earlier_

It was a week before her eighteenth birthday when Bonnie threw open her bedroom door one evening to find a pretty brunette in a blue silk ballgown lounging in her favorite papasan chair, head tilted in a greeting.

 _"Bonjour, mademoiselle Bennett."_

Bonnie shut the door, closed her eyes and counted to three. When she opened them the ghost-woman was still there, an expectant look on her face. Bonnie had hoped she was imagining things, or that maybe someone from the Historical Reenactment Society had wandered into her room somehow. But there was something about this woman, an ethereal and serene quality, that belied any mundane explanation.

"Hélène Delacroix. _Enchante_ ," she rose gracefully from her seat, rosebud mouth curved into a smile.

"Look," Bonnie held out her hand, "I don't know how you got here or what you want but I'm trying to-," she paused, something about the woman's name tickled the back of her mind.

Bonnie rushed to her desk and rifled through the piles of textbooks and grimoires until she found what she was looking for: an old leather journal the same shade of blue as Hélène's dress, one of many she'd found in Grams' basement and perused furiously for information about Klaus.

 _"Mon Dieu!,_ " Hélène breathed.

"Hélène Delacroix," Bonnie said slowly, running a thumb over the journal's engraved fleur-de-lys and looking at her visitor, "You were a witch."

 _"Comme toi,"_ the other woman blinked her dark, limpid eyes, "All my life." She said it simply and with a gravity that contrasted her youthful appearance and reminded Bonnie almost uncomfortably of herself.

A hundred questions rose and died on Bonnie's lips as they stared at each other, human to ghost, witch to witch.

"How did-" Bonnie began when there was a knock on her door.

"Bonnie? You in here?" her dad asked.

"Just a second!"

She whirled to face Hélène, "Wait here."

Bonnie cracked the door open, offered an excuse about cramming for a Biology quiz and promised to eat check in later. When her dad's footsteps faded away, she turned around to find Hélène flipping through her own journal. " _Allons bon,"_ she tutted, turning another page,"I was a terrible little naval gazer. But perhaps the rest was _amusant, oui?"_ she arched an eyebrow and Bonnie flushed. The passages about Klaus had been vivid and explicit, and she hadn't exactly skimmed.

"I suppose there's no chance this is a random visit?" she deflected, crossing her arms, "Let me guess, the Spirits are angry with me, or they need me to do something huge and difficult, probably both-,"

"I was not sent here, _petite_. Rather, I was summoned."

"By who?"

Hélène blinked her almond-shaped eyes again, "You, _bien sûr_."

"Great. Now I'm doing magic in my sleep."

 _"Quoi?"_

"Nothing," Bonnie sighed, "so how long are you here for?"

The cinnamon-skinned witch shrugged, " _Vous décidez_. Until your need is fulfilled."

Bonnie just stared at her, trying to process what was happening. Underneath it all registered a single fact: this was the first witch she'd spoken to since Grams passed, and she too was a ghost. A sudden heaviness descended on her.

"I think I need a moment," she said quietly.

 _"Bien sûr,"_ Hélène nodded. Then Bonnie blinked and she was gone. A draft from the open window made her shiver, sighing through her newly empty room.

* * *

She hadn't visited Grams' grave since the funeral. The marble with its flat words standing silent among the grass was not her Grams, had no mark of the warm, vital woman who was the only mother she'd ever known.

Bonnie knelt by the stone, a bouquet of lilies cradled in her arm. The flowers had seemed beautiful and perfect when she bought them, now the plastic wrapper rustling as she laid them down seemed to mock her.

It wasn't enough. It would never be enough.

 _"Ma petite, je suis désolé."_

Bonnie heard the rustle of silk skirts before she spoke. "I think I would like to be alone, please."

Hélène sucked her teeth. The disapproving sound was almost comforting in its familiarity "I think you have been alone long enough."

Almost.

"Can I un-summon you now?" Bonnie mumbled.

"If you want."

Bonnie tried to send her away. She concentrated hard enough to furrow her brow. The wind whistled in the trees and stirred the grass, but left her ghost untouched.

Hélène knelt beside her so they both faced Sheila's grave, " _C'est triste_. In the world of men and vampires, we often find ourselves alone."

"Is _that_ why you fell in with Klaus?"

Hélène gave a quick, throaty laugh, " _Non, ma petite._ I took him as my lover because I desired to."

"Even though you knew what he was?" Bonnie inquired.

 _"Qu'est-ce que que?"_

"...you know, evil?" the word felt funny in her mouth.

Another low laugh. _"Je vois,_ was he evil when he fought his own hybrid to protect you? Or when he escorted you home at night?"

Bonnie's gaped. A mischievous look sparkled in Hélène's almond eyes. "Your journal was far more _intéressant_ than mine."

"You read my journal?"

" _À bon chat, bon rat_ , don't you think?"

Bonnie opened and closed her mouth. "I read your journal for information!"

"Likewise, _petite_. You summon me and yet tell me nothing about yourself. So I went looking."

"You could've just asked," she muttered.

 _"Bien_ , then let me ask: how old were you when your mother left?"

Bonnie bit her lip, the smallness of the number settling in her chest. "Not old enough to remember."

Hélène sucked her teeth again, only this time it felt protective," _Pauvre fille._ And your grandmama is passed..." her eyebrows rose and she turned to Bonnie, _"je comprends_ , I know why you summoned me."

* * *

Klaus gave her a pitying look, "It's a tradition among witches. When a witch turns eighteen her mother, or an available maternal ancestor, proffers a blessing that allows the witch to perform powerful magic unaided."

They were seated in his study, Bonnie trying hard not to stare at the bloodstained wine glass dangling casually between his long fingers. While he couldn't see or hear Hélène, the ghost hovered behind her shoulder, making an occasional remark or two.

Bonnie frowned, digesting his words, "But I've already performed powerful magic unaided."

"Juiced up on the power of a hundred witches, yes, but hardly unaided."

She cocked her head and said coolly, "You mean the time I lit your ass up like the fourth of July? You sure that wasn't just me?"

His nostrils flared slightly and Bonnie prepared for a response, but amusement settled on his face instead, "Yes, unless magic is fueled by moral outrage."

They were interrupted when the door opened and a slim, pale brunette slipped into the room. As Bonnie watched, she bared her wrist and emptied some blood into Klaus' glass. Bonnie could smell the coppery tang in the air.

"Thank you, sweetheart," Klaus said to the woman, "now go bandage that up."

"Yes, sir," the compelled human floated glassily away and Klaus turned to Bonnie, smirking over the rim of his glass.

"You look a little green around the gills, love."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes, fighting the temptation to show him just how powerful her moral outrage could be. He continued to sip the fresh blood, eyes dancing away from her, clearly enjoying her discomfort. Oh, he was infuriating.

 _"Ne vous inquiétez pas,"_ she heard Hélène chuckle in her ear, "he provokes you because he cares about your reaction."

Considering this, Bonnie shrugged, crossing her legs and clasping her hands over her knee, "If you don't help me find my mother, I'll have to go elsewhere. Hmmm," she pretended to think, "I wonder if anyone would help a powerful witch get more powerful in order to take down Klaus Mikaelson."

 _"Tres bien!"_

Klaus raised his eyebrows, "I get the distinct feeling that you're trying to threaten me. Is that really wise, little witch? "

"And who's going to get you more doppelganger blood when you run out? Or maybe you haven't noticed witches aren't exactly a dime a dozen around here," she smirked, "except for _little_ old me."

"You forget, love" he leaned back in his chair with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "I can be very persuasive."

Bonnie pursed her lips, "So you'll threaten my friends, and when that doesn't work you'll threaten me."

"If I must." Klaus face was stony and unreadable, but there was an odd glitter in his eyes that made her want to look anywhere except at him.

Hélène snorted, "He is lying, _ma petite_."

Bonnie hesitated.

 _"Faites-moi confiance,"_ Hélène whispered, "he wants you by his side more than he needs your obedience. Remember what we talked about."

Bonnie rose to her feet, "Fine," she paused in the doorway, "I'll give the Original Witch your regards."

He was behind her before she could blink, spinning her around so her back was to the wall. She had to crane her neck to meet his ice-blue eyes. "My mother has been locked up in a coffin for centuries. What are you playing at, little witch?" his grip on her wrist was not ungentle, but she felt the steel underneath.

As soon as he called her bluff, Bonnie's first instinct was to drop him with an aneurysm. But that's what he expected, that's what the old Bonnie would've done, all weapon, no purpose. Not this time.

"Let go of me," she said calmly.

Klaus' mouth curved upward, but he only stepped closer to her so their chests were almost touching. He smelled of aftershave and wood and burnt paper, an oddly unique blend that suited him perfectly. "Answer me, Bonnie." His voice lingered with strange softness on her name.

"Did you ever think maybe witches want the same things you do?" she blurted.

A flicker of surprise crossed his face. Bonnie continued, "I want to be safe, and in order to be safe I have to be powerful. I thought you of all people would understand that."

 _"Bien dit, petite,"_ Hélène cheered quietly.

Bonnie averted her eyes from the intensity of his gaze. To her surprise, he let go of her wrist and grasped her chin instead, gently turning her face back to his. What she saw there was quite different.

"You sure that's what you want, love?"

It unsettled her when he looked at her like that, that he could go from sipping blood out of a wineglass to regarding her like he saw something he recognized, maybe even wanted to protect.

She nodded slowly. Klaus backed away from her and she released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. He walked to his antique desk and fished out a folder that he then placed in her hands.

"The last known location of Abby Bennett. Address and information are in there.

Bonnie was disarmed by his gesture, "...thank you."

"If we leave in the morning we should get there by sunset."

"We?" her head jerked up.

"My car has excellent mileage," Klaus flashed her his dimpled grin.

"I don't think-,"

"Besides" he said with mock innocence, "I can't have you running off to my enemies as soon as you acquire your new powers."

"But-,"

He stood there, grinning widely, clearly relishing the moment and with no intention of backing down. "I'll see you in the morning, love."

* * *

"You did well, _petite._ "

They were in Bonnie's room, Hélène watching curiously as she gathered toiletries and clothes for the trip.

"Thanks," Bonnie said wryly, zipping up her overnight bag. "I'm still not sure how exactly I summoned you."

Hélène shrugged gracefully, _"Je ne suis pas sûr_. Spirit is drawn by and to that which is incomplete. Perhaps your ancestors, or maybe your own magic, interceded on your behalf."

"I helped myself without even realizing it?"

"You are more gifted than you let yourself believe, _cherie._ And you are not quite as alone as you think. There are many who love you, and wish to protect you."

"I wish more of them were in the land of the living," Bonnie quipped, smiling.

Hélène had a mysterious twinkle in her eyes, "You might be surprised."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, gathering the last of her things.

"You know the real reason Niklaus insists on accompanying you, _oui?"_

"Klaus always has a reason, and it's usually self-motivated," she slung her bag over her shoulder.

 _"Peut-être._ He is always protective of his witches."

Bonnie's froze, one foot in her shoes. "I'm not his witch." Helping him one time under duress didn't count. Right? She shoved the other thoughts back into a mental drawer, the ones that asked uneasy questions and laughed at her answers.

 _"Vous dites que, ma petite,"_ Hélène laughed, "You are your own witch. But I know Niklaus, and he certainly believes you are his."

Bonnie had tried to kill Klaus and he had attempted to return the favor, and that strange equanimity had been the defining logic of their relationship. Did a few conversations and walks home really indicate a shift in that balance? And a shift into what?

Evidently reading her unease, Hélène added gently, "Whatever the case, he wishes to protect you."

"Against my own mother?" Bonnie asked, feigning lightness.

"Ah, perhaps especially so."

"Well, you were right about using the Original Witch to get his attention. What really happened with them?" Bonnie figured that would explain his inability to trust people, and his obsession with loyalty and power. They were after all, she reflected ruefully, traits that she'd begun to recognize in herself.

Hélène shook her mop of dark curls sadly, "I never knew the story, only that it was terrible and unforgivable. Perhaps one day he will tell you the truth from his own lips."

She snorted, "I doubt that."

 _"C'est comme ça._ The soul is like a house with many rooms. Some we live in and some we are afraid to open."

They both glanced at the desk where their journals lay side by side.

"I know one thing," Bonnie looked the other witch in her eyes, "I read your journal because I was looking for a weakness in Klaus. But I found something else instead, something for me."

Hélène's eyes softened.

Bonnie heard a car pulling up outside. A glance out the window showed Klaus getting out of the driver's side, maddeningly punctual of course.

She turned to Hélène, "I guess this is it. I'm going to meet my mother."

Reaching out, she touched Bonnie's cheek. "The honor will be hers, _petite."_ Bonnie felt a cool, breeze-like softness on her skin. She closed her eyes.

When she opened them Hélène was gone. Lying on her desk, the pages of the blue journal fluttered like fingers waving goodbye.

{TO BE CONTINUED}

* * *

 **A/N: Yes this one-shot is a two parter! And if anyone is interested, my face-claim for Hélène is Ruth Negga. Thanks for reading and supporting y'all!**


	6. Chapter 6

_"She has turned every field into stone_  
 _Where she walks, cryin' alone_  
 _Cryin' for_

 _Proserpina, Proserpina"_

 _\- Martha Wainwright_

* * *

 _ **Residence of Abby Bennett, present day**_

She was standing in the eye of a storm.

Rain was blasting through the open windows and doors, shutters banging on the walls and wind howling in the trees outside. Bonnie fell to her knees, unable to withstand the turmoil of magic pouring out of her.

"Make it stop!" she managed to cry out. Her mother was huddled against the wall, a look of frozen horror on her face, lips moving soundlessly in a litany of _what have I done what have I done what have I done_

* * *

 _ **Mystic Falls, 17 Years ago**_

 _Abby Bennett had never seen anything more perfect than her baby girl, swaddled and sleeping soundly in her arms, little fists balled up next to her chubby face._

" _Bonnie," Abby whispered over and over, like she couldn't quite believe this small and wondrous being, "my little bonnie bluebell."_

 _Her daughter, her light in the dark, her dream of a normal life._

 _As soon as Rudy finished his one year at the law firm, they would be leaving Mystic Falls for Colorado. Abby couldn't wait to decorate their little mountain home with handwoven quilts and sweet herbs, to take Bonnie apple picking when she was old enough, to live far away from the Bennett legacy, somewhere she could just be Abby: wife to a good man, and mother to the most beautiful baby girl in the whole world._

 _"You're not seriously thinking of taking my granddaughter away to some awful hillbilly town are you?"_

 _"My daughter," Abby emphasized, "will have a good life. Away from all of this."_

 _"You mean away from me."_

 _Abby sighed and rubbed her temples, "Ma,that's not why -,"_

 _"You can't blame me for what happened, Abigail."_

 _Abby felt something snap inside her. "No, I blame myself for listening to you."_

 _Sheila covered the distance between them, her eyes sparking, "Mikael had to be subdued, and no one else would do it. When we closed that coffin lid over his goddamn face we honored every Benett witch who came before us. You should be proud, and Bonnie should grow up knowing exactly the legacy she was born into."_

 _Abby's voice trembled, "That, is exactly what I'm afraid of."_

* * *

 _Her daughter had magic._

 _For a brief, foolish moment Abby had let herself believe that Bonnie would not inherit her powers, that Rudy's human blood would win out. Those hopes were dashed when she walked into the nursery one night and, by the light of the full moon, found Bonnie's stuffed animals floating around her crib like strange guardian spirits. The baby gurgled and cooed, awed by her own display._

 _Abby could feel her apple orchard dreams flicker and die by the light of her daughter's eyes._

" _This child will be a prodigy! I can sense it, I can See it. You can't hide her away in the mountains and expect to fool destiny."_

 _Abby looked up from feverishly throwing things in boxes. She had convinced Rudy to turn in two months notice and had bought them plane tickets to Denver._

" _I'm her mother. I decide what's best for her, not you and not the Spirits."_

" _Abby, listen to me," Sheila grabbed her forearms and shook her gently, forcing Abby to meet her eyes, "whatever Mikael did to you, it's over. He will never hurt anyone again. But if you do this, if you run away from your own power, you're doing exactly what he would want."_

 _Abby froze, feeling Sheila's words like a knife between her ribs. Her vision became fuzzy, and she could hear Mikael, laughing that low, cold laugh while his hands slipped across her skin, whispering in her darkest dreams, /Everything you are is mine. /_

 _Always his voice, like a dripping faucet in the night only she could hear._

" _No," Abby tried to whisper but it rushed screaming out of her, and gusts of wind tore through the living room, banging doors and windows. When she came back to herself the baby was crying in the next room._

 _Abby paused on her way to the nursery to see Sheila getting up from the floor._

" _Don't you ever talk to me about what HE wants."_

* * *

 _Her skin was clammy, and she couldn't stop shaking as she slipped out of bed and padded quietly into the nursery. She had to see her baby, to make sure she was okay._

 _Grasping the crib with trembling fingers, Abby stared down at her. The image from her dream pounded against her head : a Mikaelson standing before her daughter, tucking a strand of curly hair behind her ear, leaning down in a gesture that was nothing but intimate._

 _Abby closed her eyes, taking a deep ragged breath._

 _She knew what she had to do._

 _It took her weeks to find the information. She snuck into her mother's house and rifled through her impressive collection of journals and Grimoires until she found the spell in question. "Thetis' Water" as the ancient witches called it was nearly indecipherable beneath the scribbled warnings and forbidding runes. There was a time such warnings would have dissuaded her, but that was before Mikael._

 _For a month she gathered all the necessary ingredients, preparing them at night while the moon waxed and waned. She started to lose weight, her milk dried up, and there were circles under her eyes. Rudy, concerned and loving as ever, tried to ask her what was wrong. She pushed him away. /Once this is over, I can tell you everything/, she reasoned. /Once this is done, we can be a real family./_

 _Then the night came when everything was ready. She spooned a tincture of valerian into Rudy's evening tea and he was snoring within minutes. He wouldn't wake for a good nine hours. It would all be over by then. She lay him down with a blanket and went into the nursery, carefully scooping their daughter into her arms._

 _Bonnie was restless, and Abby had to keep whispering and cooing to her until they were outside, just her and her baby, the night sky above them, and a swimming pool below._

* * *

 _ **Magnolia Diner, earlier that day**_

Bonnie absently dragged a limp french fry across a puddle of ketchup before popping it in her mouth, then another, picking at the pile on her plate. Outside the weather was rainy and grey and you could smell the sea. Strange that her mother had relocated here, like the sea marked a threshold she couldn't quite cross.

"You're stalling," Klaus interrupted her reverie, observing her over the rim of his mug. She'd been surprised when he ordered coffee instead of just compelling the waitress to open a vein, but her relief was short lived when he'd proceeded to empty blood from a small hip-flask into his cappuccino.

"What's the big hurry?" she countered, "it's not like we're meeting _your_ mother."

"Indeed. Things would be a lot messier and," he hefted his mug, " bloodier if that were the case."

She made a face, "Not a momma's boy I take it?"

"The last time I spoke to my mother I staked her through the heart and shut her in a coffin," he said flatly.

Her hand lifting french fries froze halfway to her mouth. "Damn. I thought I had problems," she put away the fries and reached for some water,"So...what happened?"

Setting down his mug, his gaze travelled the length of his arm and rested there. For a second, his heavy-lidded eyes and set jaw could've given Stefan Salvatore's best brooding face a run for its money. Then it cleared, and he looked back at her, his mouth quirked slightly. "Do you remember the moment you discovered you were a witch?"

Bonnie frowned, thrown off by his question. "Yeah...well, I remember Grams telling me, but it didn't feel real until I could show someone else." She remembered floating feathers and Elena's surprised laughter matching her own. It had felt like the beginning of a whole new life.

Klaus leaned forward on his elbows,"Now, imagine someone you've loved and trusted unconditionally, who claims to love you, taking that moment away from you. Imagine someone deciding _for you_ how powerful you can and can't be," his eyes grew momentarily dark and distant, almost like he was talking to himself. "Imagine that for a thousand years, the first thing you feel when you wake up and the last thing you swallow before going to sleep is the anger and helplessness of that betrayal," his gaze returned to her, "Now imagine that someone was your mother."

Unsure what to say Bonnie cast her eyes down and toyed with her food. As always, his moments of seeming honestly disarmed her.

"I don't know what's worse," she said after a while, "a mother that abandons you or a mother that betrays you."

Klaus shrugged, "In the end it makes no difference. All that matters is we have the power to shape our own destiny-"

She cocked her head to the side, surprised.

"-and eliminate whoever gets in our way."

"Of course," she eye-rolled.

"Ready?"

Bonnie exhaled slowly, pushing her plate away and wiping her hands on her jeans.

"Let's get this over with."

* * *

"This is as far as I go."

She raised a surprised eyebrow. They were at a gas station about two blocks from Abby Bennett's house. "Really? Even though I could 'run off' with my new found powers?"

Klaus laughed, "Don't sell yourself short, you're far too clever to run from me."

"That's...the weirdest, most self-serving compliment-"

"I don't pay compliments, love," he opened the driver's side door, "I state facts."

"Right," she made a face, adjusting her purse strap and checking the GPS. Sure enough, the address was exactly two blocks away, a five minute walk.

"Bonnie?"

She looked up and he was leaning on the car roof with a knowing look on his face, "Stop stalling."

"I wasn't-,"

Klaus came around to her and slid a finger under her chin, "Here's another fact, little witch. You said you wanted power. Well it's your birthright. Now claim it."

The understated vehemence in those last words didn't escape her. Hélène had said a lot of things about Klaus' motivations, and Bonnie had her own ideas. "Is that why you're helping me? Because your mother interfered with your birthright? She's the one who put the Hybrid Curse on you, isn't she?"

His eyes flashed and a muscle jumped in his jaw. Then just as quickly it was gone and he was looking coolly down at her. "My mother is entombed, but yours is waiting. So I'd suggest you get a move on, love."

Without another word Klaus got in the car and drove away, leaving Bonnie with no choice but to walk to her mother's house.

* * *

 _ **Mystic Falls, 17 years ago**_

 _The azure gleam of the pool bathed them in a soft glow._

 _Abby whispered over and over to her baby. "Everything's going to be alright, no one will ever hurt you, bluebell. I'll make sure of it."_

 _Setting her down, Abby took out a small phial filled with an obsidian-colored liquid. It was so cold the inside of the glass was lined with frost._

 _In the moment before she tipped the phial, Abby remembered the day they decided to splurge on a swimming pool. It was the same day she found out she was pregnant with Bonnie. She and Rudy had been giddy with happiness. They imagined long summer days of barbeques and swims, and watching a little girl splash around with water-wings. It was supposed to represent their dreams of familial bliss, now it was her last resort to free herself and her daughter of a nightmare._

 _Abby bit the inside of her cheek and looked down at Bonnie. She'd grown quiet in her swaddling, watching her mother with wide, round eyes._

 _Steeling her resolve, Abby emptied the potion into the water, and began to chant._

" _Tears of Thetis, flow for me_

 _Stain this water, make a sea_

 _Tears of Thetis, pour for me_

 _Fill this water, make me free"_

* * *

 _ **Residence of Abby Bennett, 12:00 pm, present day**_

Abby Bennett was shorter than Bonnie expected.

Curly dark hair much like her own framed a beautiful oval face, and large brown eyes retained an almost tragic hint of girlish innocence despite the tired lines around them. Her slender fingers clasped and unclasped themselves while they sat across from each other.

"You should try some," Abby gestured at the steaming mug in front of Bonnie "people say my lattes are life-changing."

The coffee did smell decadent, rich and sweet with a hint of pumpkin, cozy unlike the bare, drafty living room they were seated in. Bonnie could almost taste the cinnamon-sprinkled whipped cream topping, but couldn't bring herself to take a sip.

"No thanks, I'm not big on coffee." It was a miserable little satisfaction to turn her down, but she clung to it regardless.

"Oh," Abby bit her lip, "that makes sense. I suppose Ma raised you on tea."

"It's not like there was another option."

Abby nodded slowly, "Okay, I deserve that. But Bonnie, if you only knew how much I -,"

"You know what, I don't, and that's okay. I'm not here to make you feel guilty. It's really just a technicality," Bonnie avoided her eyes, avoided the hundred thousand thoughts swarming around her brain, _Do you use coconut or jojoba oil for your hair? What's your favorite comfort food? Do you have trouble sleeping sometimes, because dad says there's no insomnia in his family. Did you ever think about me after you left?_

"You're turning eighteen aren't you?" Abby said quietly.

"And I need your blessing as closest maternal relative."

"Ah," Abby looked down at her hands, "I see."

"So if you don't mind-,"

"There's just one problem," her mother gave a humorless smile, " _technically_ , I no longer have any magic."

* * *

 _The silencing spell she'd cast around the house held strong, and good thing too because the moment she took Bonnie out of her blankets she began crying and wailing with no end in sight. Abby was vaguely aware of her breasts aching with milk she could no longer provide, but all she could think about was the cold dark water and how it would make them both clean. "Shhh bluebell, we're almost done. It's okay. Mama's gonna take care of you."_

 _Later, there would be cuddles and hugs and cozy, pumpkin-scented nights by a fireplace. Later, there would be a whole new life for both of them. Warm, safe, and without any magic._

 _She held Bonnie over the pool. The water gleamed dark like an adder's belly._

" _Stop!" Sheila Bennett burst through the french doors. "Abigail, put the baby down."_

" _I will Ma. Just as soon as we both go for a little swim, isn't that right bluebell?" she cooed at her daughter._

" _Abby, think about what you're about to do! You're my daughter, you're a Bennett witch-,"_

" _I never asked to be, and neither did she, did you baby?"_

" _Abby, put the baby down sweetheart."_

 _Abby took a shuddering breath, staring into the abyss of water, "All those weeks when I was locked in Mikael's torture chamber do you know what kept me going Ma? Not the Spirits, not my magic, not our 'legacy', it was you," she swallowed her sobs and hugged Bonnie closer, a tear escaping to splash on the baby's head, "when he put his hands on me, when he got inside my head, god, when he -I held on, Ma. I called for you. Why didn't you come?"_

 _"Abby...,"_

" _I called for you."_

" _Oh, baby," Sheila shook her head, taking slow steps towards them, "baby I looked for you every day and every night. And if that bastard could be killed I would rip every vein out of his body and make him watch. But he can't hurt us anymore, baby. We made sure of that, you and I."_

 _"No, no, no, no,"_

 _"Come here, honey. Let me hold the baby."_

 _"I saw her."_

 _"Saw who?"_

 _"My baby! My Bonnie, I Saw her with a Mikaelson. He was leaning close to her like she knew him and-,"_

 _"Abby you can't-,"_

 _"I Saw it ma! And if I don't strip her of magic then I may as well go back into that cell with Mikael because that's exactly what will happen to her too. I want her to be normal, can't you understand that?" she clutched the baby closer as though to protect her from Time itself, "to have a life where her magic won't draw monsters to her."_

 _"I've Seen her future too, Abigail," Sheila said quietly, fiercely, "Magic is her destiny, as its mine and yours. But pain doesn't have to be. She can have another kind of life."_

 _"Can you guarantee that?" she looked down at the whimpering baby in her arms and back up to her mother, "Can you look her in the eye and promise that we will always protect her from any threat? That she will be as safe as if she didn't have any magic ?"_

 _Sheila's voice became stern, "We can't make that decision for her, Abby. It's wrong."_

" _What happened to me was wrong," she stroked Bonnie's crown, "But I'm gonna fix it. For me, and for her."_

* * *

"I don't understand," Bonnie frowned, "Grams said your powers were just weakened after you guys dessicated some powerful vampire together."

A haunted smile crossed Abby's face, "Is that all she told you?"

"Yes," she admitted reluctantly, "she didn't talk about you much. Dad doesn't either."

"No, I don't suppose Rudy does," she said wryly, "so how did you find me?"

"Umm -,"

They both jumped when the kettle whistled. While Abby hurried into the kitchen with her coffee mug, Bonnie looked around the space again. A few bookshelves, a desk with a laptop and some dying wildflowers crammed into a glass, a fireplace that looked unused, and bare walls. There was no suggestive splash of personality, nothing that yielded any clues about who Abby Bennett really was. The only piece of art visible was a generic painting of bluebells hung over the mantelpiece, something you could find in a hotel bedroom.

The longer Bonnie sat there, the longer she felt a sinking, ugly kind of disappointment.

Abby came back inside, an apologetic look on her face "Are you hungry? I can make you something...,"

"I'm fine, thanks," Bonnie forced a smile.

Abby nodded, crossing her arms and avoiding Bonnie's eyes.

"You never came to her funeral," Bonnie blurted, and the words hung there, heavy and uncomfortable.

"No," Abby said quietly, "I paid my respects later, alone. Your grandmother and I, we didn't always agree."

* * *

 _"And how do you think she'll feel when she finds out - and she will - that her own mother stripped her of her powers? What happens when she meets a vampire on a dark road and she has no way to defend herself? What happens when she gets tired of a little human life and wants more? Hmm? What will you tell her then?"_

" _I'm going to keep her safe! If we don't have any magic we'll both be safe," she rocked back and forth, repeating the words like a mantra, willing them to be true. "We'll both be safe."_

" _Open your eyes Abigail. Mikael didn't just take you because you were a witch. He took you because he could. Because the powerful have always taken from their victims. He didn't just want to hurt you he wanted to break your spirit and make you believe you were worthless," she approached her daughter slowly and touched her arm, "and if you do this, if you take power away from your daughter, you will never forgive yourself. And neither will she."_

 _"No," Abby gulped, licking the salt on her lips, "she'll understand-,"_

 _"Look at yourself!" Sheila grabbed her shoulders, "Abby you're not well. Don't make a decision you can't come back from," she softened her voice, "for Bonnie's sake."_

 _The sound of her daughter's name was like ice water down her spine. Abby looked down at the soft bundle in her arms, such a warm little thing, radiating so much innocence, and so much trust. "Bonnie," she whispered, "Bonnie Bonnie bluebell."_

 _Something broke inside her. Maybe it was broken long ago._

* * *

Bonnie's puzzlement must have shown on her face, "Grams never said anything about you guys fighting."

"I bet she didn't," Abby gave a hollow laugh, "she still thought I'd come around, heal myself. She always put too much faith in being a 'Bennett witch'."

Bonnie felt a strange mix of sadness and consternation. "Grams practically raised me. She may have been intense, but she was there, and she taught me things-"

"And got herself killed before her time, protecting people who couldn't give a damn about her or you," Abby cut in gently.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Bonnie stood and made to sweep past her, anger curled tight in her chest. That's when Abby's hand reached out, and the moment their skin made contact it was like a floodgate tearing open.

Bonnie could smell the chlorine and taste the water in her mouth from that night she jumped into the swimming pool. Except this was a different pool, and it wasn't chlorine she smelled anymore but something smoky and cold like ashes, and it wasn't water stinging the back of her throat, but a poison.

She screamed.

* * *

 _Sheila scooped up the baby with an audible sigh of relief. Abby watched her enfold Bonnie in a shawl, rocking and soothing her, protecting her. She absorbed the image into her brain and took a deep breath._

 _"I'm so sorry bluebell."_

 _"Abby...ABBY NO!"_

 _It was too late. She leapt into the cold black water and allowed herself to sink. A hundred feathery voices swirled around her all whispering the same thing:_

 _/what have you done/_

 _/what have you done/_

 _And then, there was only silence._

* * *

 **Residence of Abby Bennett, the present**

Three generations of loss and anguish were pounding through her body. Bonnie placed her palms flat on the floor, trying to ground herself while her magic, already so close to the threshold of eighteen years, rattled her frame like a wild animal trying to escape. Maybe this is what werewolves felt after their first kill, power bleeding and pulsing from an endless, hungry wound.

The thought of wolves took root. She closed her eyes and conjured up the forest lake Klaus showed her, the calm cool rush of leaves whispering their secrets, the silvery lapping of water, the way her magic could feel plugged into a million twinkling points of energy but also contained, focused inside herself.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Her senses returned, the rampaging images and emotions melted away.

She was here, despite everything she was here.

She looked up and assessed the damage to Abby's living room. If the space had looked boring before, well... coffee and broken glass stained the carpets, the curtains were torn, and the painting above the mantelpiece hung askew.

"I'm sorry," Bonnie mumbled, "I don't know-,"

"No, I'm sorry," Abby stood and walked over to her, "you shouldn't have found out this way, I should've told you. We both should've told you." She seemed shaken but calmer.

Bonnie sat back on her heels, absently brushing dust off her clothes. Abby held out a hand to her.

"It's okay," the older woman said quietly when Bonnie hesitated, "no more secrets."

Bonnie took her hand and stood up, and was almost immediately pulled into a fierce embrace."Whoa-" It was less motherly and soothing and more desperate, like she was a stolen jewel that Abby had snatched back into her desperate grasp. "All I ever wanted was to protect you."

Abby pulled back and looked at her, as if seeing her fully for the first time, "I wish I had more to offer than bad memories."

Bonnie hugged herself, feeling suddenly cold after the whirlwind of magic. In her head she saw that moment by the swimming pool when Abby placed her in Sheila's arms, the warmth of both their love wrapped around her. She looked in Abby's eyes. "They weren't all bad."

Abby reached out and touched her cheek, "She was right, in the end. I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I took your magic from you. Your power is yours and yours alone. Don't ever forget that."

And this time her touch was different, a simple, golden kind of light. Bonnie felt it encase her and tingle in her fingertips and toes

Abby drew her hand back in shock, "How-,"

Bonnie looked down at her own hands, feeling the brilliance of magic swirling there, powerful, ready, _hers_.

"I guess a blessing is a blessing."

* * *

The walk was helping clear her head.

Bonnie had concocted a lie about Rudy picking her up in response to Abby's questions about how she was getting home.

Her phone vibrated with a text message.

/ **K** : Planning to spend your birthday in a smaller town than Mystic Falls?/

Goddess help her she almost found his dry humor comforting. What did it say about her that she wanted to talk to him, tell him things she couldn't tell anyone else?

 _This power is your birthright._

 _Your power is yours alone._

Bonnie plopped down on a bench and ran her hands through her hair. How the hell was her mother giving her the same advice as Klaus, _Klaus_ , son of the man who almost killed Abby?

" _The soul is like a house with many rooms. Some we live in and some we are afraid to open"_

Hélène had said that about him, but in that moment Bonnie wondered what doors inside of herself the storm had kicked open. Klaus was the enemy, he was the reason she'd died, he was the reason she'd lied to her friends about stealing Elena's blood.

And now he was the reason she was sitting here, weighted with more knowledge and power than ever before, wanting to hate him but coming up short.

Her phone dinged again.

/ **K** : I sense you might be in need of a stiff drink/

She uncurled her fingers, felt the residual tingle of magic renewed and reborn. He may still be the most powerful supernatural being in existence, but she was no longer a fragile vessel poised to shatter from too much magic. She was her own lightning rod, the eye of her own storm. A corner of her mouth lifted as she swiped her phone-screen.

/ **B** : I'm at the corner of 45th and Greenwood./

/ **B** : And hold the drink, this time I'm driving/

* * *

 **A/N: Damn this really challenged me to plumb my own mother/daughter issues, hence the long wait between chapters. LOL sigh. I hope y'all enjoyed the new take on Abby, I really wanted to do justice to her story and make it Bonnie-centric (instead of Elena-focused like canon). There'll be more Klonnie in the next chapter, it felt important that Klaus take a slight backseat in this one. Please leave a review if you can, and thanks as always for the support, this is now my longest and most reviewed Klonnie fic xoxoxoxox**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** _Darling readers, I am so, so sorry about the long wait between updates. Believe me I wanted to post this months ago, but I had to travel internationally for a family wedding and as soon as I got back some truly wild shit went down in my personal life that was almost straight out of a TVD episode. Between all that and starting school again my fanfic writing schedule suffered hella setbacks. BUT the good news is I have a clear vision for the end of this fic (only 3 more chapters to go after this one!) and my goal is to finish it before the summer *fingers crossed*. For now, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing it._

 **!WARNING!** there's several mentions of cockroaches in the early part of this chapter so please proceed with caution if you're phobic.

 **Notes:** For my non-US readers , "funnel cake" is a popular type of carnival food consisting of dough that's fried in concentric circles and covered in powdered sugar, chocolate or other toppings. It's the shit y'all.

"Mille-feuille", meaning "a thousand leaves", is a French pastry filled with sweet cream amid layers of thin puff-pastry.

* * *

Rudy hung up the phone and gave his daughter a resigned look, "Well. It's official. We have a town-wide cockroach infestation."

Bonnie looked up from the dining table where she was drowning in a sea of college apps. "But it's winter...where are they even coming from?"

"Carol Lockwood thinks it's global warming. I'm sure Reverend Howard thinks it's the end of days."

"He thinks everything's the end of days."

"Exactly," Rudy came and stood behind a chair, "and if the Town Council doesn't provide a solution, people are going to look for answers in other places, like Reverend Howard's church." He gave a rueful smile. "Either way, the New Year's carnival is doomed."

"You really think so? Because of some bugs - " her sentence ended in a scream and she nearly jumped away from the table. Rudy grabbed the broom and brought it down with a swift thud on the papers. Two giant roaches lay crushed across her application to NYU.

Father and daughter exchanged horrified looks.

"I'll get...a bag," Bonnie said at last, trying to look away from the mess.

"No, you go print off some new copies. I'll clean up." There was a trace of tiredness in his voice she realized had little to do with the task at hand. The New Year's carnival had been Rudy's pet project, the thing that would assure his viability as a candidate for future mayor. Every year, most of the residents of Mystic Falls drove to their neighboring town Harbor Springs for new year's eve. Not only was this a loss of revenue for Mystic Falls, but Rudy argued that their town needed a stronger sense of its own identity. And so the idea for a new year's eve carnival was born.

As Bonnie waited for the printer to finish she remembered that Rudy had given some of his own money to get the carnival project off the ground.

She returned downstairs to find him on the phone again. The voice at the other end was crackling with outrage. "Yes, Angela," he was saying, placatingly, "I'm aware of that. We're doing everything we can." He ended the call with a sigh.

Bonnie leaned on the doorframe, ""Everything ok? She sounded pissed."

"She found roaches under her kids beds and the exterminators have already been through twice. I'd be pissed too. Mayor Lockwood wants to cancel the carnival. Some folks are already heading out of town."

"But you've been working on the carnival all year," she frowned, "there's got to be a way...,"

He turned to her and put his hands on her shoulders, "Don't you worry about this stuff, baby. Keep working on those applications, okay? Your future's ahead of you, not here in Mystic Falls." A flicker of something bittersweet crossed his face. He shook his head.

"Dad...?"

"It's nothing," he looked down at her like he was seeing someone else, then his face cleared, "just that this carnival...When you're off to college and seeing the world, I wanted you to have one good thing to remember your hometown by. To remember me by." He gave a self-deprecating smile, "Selfish, I know, but I kept thinking about the summer that travelling carnival stopped in town, you were six ..."

"And I ate too many fried oreos and threw up on the carousel?" Bonnie laughed.

"I think it was the fried pickles that did you in."

"They were sooo good though!"

"They were. Maybe this carnival can have fried roaches. At least we'll make the news."

"That's gross, Dad." She thought for a second, unsure if she should say what she had in mind. "What if I helped?"

"You want to drive to Harbor Springs with me and buy up all their bug bombs?" he asked wryly.

"Or, there's another way I can help," she took a deep breath and plunged ahead, "it'll just be a simple spell, no one would have to know."

"Bonnie...,"

"You can even take the credit, say you brought in some super cool exterminators. Either way, the roaches will be gone, carnival can happen, and bam: Rudy Hopkins, rising star of the Town Council."

"I won't use you to further my career," he said gently but firmly. There was more he could've said, Bonnie sensed this. A different life, and a woman who was supposed to be there but wasn't, hovered in the haunting silence.

Bonnie looked her father in his eyes, seeing perhaps for the first time his quiet determination to keep people safe and happy, seeing also why Abby had cleaved to him with such hope for a new life.

"Then let me help you make a great night for Mystic Falls," she said, holding on to his hand, "and a great memory for the both of us."

He seemed hesitant but she could sense a glimmer of hope. "You really want to do this? With me?"

"I think Hopkins-Bennett Roach Hunters has a nice ring."

"It really, really doesn't-,"

"Who you gonna call?" she sang, bobbing her head, "come on Dad...,"

"This is where I draw the line."

"...ROACH BUSTERS!"

* * *

Twenty four hours and twelve more roaches later, Bonnie surveyed the fruits of her labor: bug-bombs made of salt, ash and little Bennett magic. She came up with the idea that she should drop boxes off at the general store while Rudy went door-to-door on behalf of the Town Council.

"When did you become such a good politician?" he joked.

Bonnie just grinned, kissed him on the cheek and headed out to the store.

The first thing she saw when she pulled up was Matt Donovan rushing towards her in his uniform, looking blanched with terror. "Bonnie! Thank God. You better come inside." She dropped the box by the service entrance and followed him.

A small crowd was gathering in the Kitchen and Bathroom aisle, surrounding two figures who were holding onto what looked like the very last can of Raid.

"Let go of the cannister woman."

"You can kiss my ass."

"I am warning you," Klaus growled.

"Did you all hear that?" Angela Mason screeched, "he just threatened me! Security!"

Bonnie hurried up to them, "Okay, let's everyone calm down."

"No," Angela huffed, "I won't calm down. I was going to grab this can when this asshole pushed me out of the way. I need this! I have children!"

"More's the pity," Klaus muttered, earning a glare from Bonnie.

"You're not even from here," Angela hissed at the hybrid, getting redder and redder in the face "just another entitled hipster who-,"

Bonnie could see his pupils dilating. He was going to compel her. She intervened swiftly, dragging Angela away. "Let him have the can, my dad just got a whole bunch of stuff that actually works."

"Really?" Angela raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"It's in the back, ready to get stocked. Matt'll show you, right Matt?"

"Right this way, ," Matt swooped in and whisked her away, giving Bonnie a grateful, relieved others quickly followed Matt.

She turned on the hybrid, "This is a new low, even for you."

"She's fortunate you were in the neighborhood."

"Threatening a mother of three? Over bug spray?"

He grabbed her arm and walked her into a corner, "Care to tell me why I awoke to find roaches swimming in my koi pond?"

"I don't have anything to do with it, if that's what you're suggesting," she yanked her arm away, then frowned, "you have a koi pond?"

"Don't you worry about my interior decorating, love. These bloody roaches on the other hand-"

She crossed her arms, "I suppose you won't 'condescend' to wait in line for a bug bomb like everyone else."

His grin was pure amusement, "An entitled 'hipster' like myself wait in line? When I might get bored or...hungry?"

Bonnie glared at him, "If we weren't in public, I swear-,"

His smiled faded slightly as he searched her face, "You really haven't caught on, have you? About these infernal bugs? This kind of phenomena doesn't just happen, little witch."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I've lived long enough to know when things aren't what they seem. If I were you, I'd keep my eyes open, stuff like this usually comes in threes or worse. Now, about those repellents-,"

"I'll deliver the bug bombs to your lair."

"Excellent. Shall we say, four o'clock? You can even stay for supper, if you like."

"I'd rather eat the roaches," she responded absently, her mind chewing on his earlier words. She watched him saunter away as uneasiness slithered down her spine.

* * *

His "lair" was all the way on the edge of town and big as a damn hotel.

Bonnie took in the sycamore trees and and beautiful marble statues surrounding a cobblestone courtyard. The place was imposing of course but there was something else, something almost carelessly decadent in the rose bushes flowering violent red and the violet-dark azalea lining the path to the front door. It was like he didn't care to even try and blend in with the rest of the town, and yet he'd set up a home here.

She was about to lift the heavy brass knocker on the door when a flash of something caught her eye. A medium sized black hound trotted up to her.

"Hey there," she smiled in surprise as the dog regarded her with a tilted head. His coat gleamed like ebony. She was about to beckon to it when suddenly it gave a single, quick bark and loped off, disappearing into the bushes.

 _I'd keep my eyes open for anything else unusual._

She shook off the sudden chill that had taken hold.

The massive oak door swung open and Rebekah stood there, smiling at her with a mouth smeared in blood. Her eyes were dark and veiny from feeding and she proceeded to lick her fingers clean.

Bonnie's stomach lurched.

"I'm here to see Klaus-"

"Are you now?" the leggy blonde crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame, assessing her slowly and appreciatively. Her eerie black eyes glowed as she loomed closer to Bonnie, toying with a strand of her hair, "He didn't tell me he was having witch for supper," she glanced at her throat "think he'd mind if I take a sip?"

"Think you'd mind if I give you a few aneurysms?"

For a second her bravado seemed insufficient, because Rebekah was looking at her like a cat contemplating a particularly full bowl of cream. But slowly, the Original removed her hand and stood aside so she could enter. Bonnie did so cautiously, hyper aware of the blonde watching her. The marble foyer yawned bigger than the entire ground-floor of her house, framed by two elaborately curved stairways that looked like they belonged in a fairytale. A strange sound caught her attention and she turned to see two shirtless men sprawled on a settee in the parlor, blood dripping from their necks and wrists. She gasped.

"Like what you see?" Rebekah's smirk reminded Bonnie who her brother was.

"Are they... dead?" she glanced at the vampire whose beautiful cocktail dress was splattered with blood.

She flashed a fanged smile, so incongruous in that otherwise soft and feminine face, and gave Bonnie another once-over, "Not for a while yet. Want to watch? I'll make it fun for you."

Bonnie looked slowly back at Rebekah's prone victims. They looked young and fit, like quarterbacks or male models, and there was something almost lascivious about their splayed limbs. She shivered. "I think we have different ideas of fun."

The other girl cocked an eyebrow at her, then shrugged elegantly, "Suit yourself, darling. Nik's down the hall somewhere." Rebekah sauntered away with a gait that was another reminder of family resemblance. The door closed behind her just as her silky hair spilled over a naked, bloody throat.

Bonnie's hurried away, wondering what other macabre visions awaited her. The manor was lush and opulent, although a little too dark for her tastes: dark wood, dark carpets, heavy brocade draperies. Even the art, expensively framed and clearly chosen by a discerning eye, was far from cheerful. Were Originals allergic to pastels? Maybe she and the gang had been looking in the wrong place for a weapon. Maybe chintzy floral wallpaper held the real key to Klaus' demise.

Her phone buzzed and she saw a voicemail from her dad.

"Hey Bon, so...the security guys pulled out. Apparently they've been hearing about the weird shit that happens in this town. Carol's freaking out. I told her I'd round up some volunteers. Let me know if you have any friends for extra muscle. See you soon."

She jumped when she heard cursing and what sounded like a struggle from a few rooms down. Rushing towards the commotion, she saw a Klaus-shaped blur whizzing around the living room, whacking things with a boot. He came to a sudden stop in front of her, his left foot bare and the boot being wielded as a weapon against cockroaches. He looked so purely annoyed that Bonnie almost laughed.

"Looks like I got here just in time," she quipped, handing him the bag of bombs.

"And what am I supposed to do with these?" he eyed the bag.

"Bury them in the four corners of your garden," she paused, remembering the strange black hound, "You don't happen to have a dog, do you?"

"Do I look like I keep pets, love?"

"Honestly, yes. Villains usually do, something creepy and gross. But this dog was normal-looking, black pelt, black eyes. Came up to me, even." The more she talked the more the ominous feeling grew in the pit of her stomach.

Klaus was watching her intently, "And you saw this creature here? On my property?"

"By your front door -," she yelped when he grabbed and pulled her against him, using his other hand to launch his boot with fierce accuracy at the wall behind her. Bonnie clutched his arm for purchase and saw the boot fall to the floor, a new victim plastered to the sole.

She was pressed into the side of his body, his arm banded around her waist with an easy firmness like he'd done it a hundred times before. His face loomed above her and she had to arch her neck to meet his gaze. He was so tall, especially up close. Warm, too. He hadn't held her, rushed her home, in months. Shock travelled through her as she realized she'd missed being in his arms and the feeling of strange safety it bestowed. That shock jolted her out of her daze and she quickly untangled herself.

"You were saying, love?"

She avoided his eyes, "So, something wicked this way comes again. But you're already here, so...,"

Klaus looked amused. "I think it's safe to say we're both content with my position as public enemy number one, better the devil you know and all that. So, let's get to the bottom of these omens, shall we?"

She frowned, "You want to actually help?"

"In a manner of speaking. I don't share your illusions about the value of this godforsaken town but I would like to keep making hybrids in relative peace. And I'm sure you'd like to enjoy your carnivals and the like without disturbance."

The carnival. Of course. She met his eyes and cold fear washed over her with the realization that whatever malignant supernatural menace was stirring was likely to reveal itself at the place where the most number of innocent people were gathered. And there'd be no security to speak of besides what Rudy could muster from local college students. At least her friends were safe; Elena was out of town with Stefan and Caroline was at the Lockwood cabin.

"I should've just let the carnival get cancelled," she groaned.

"I'd offer you a drink, love, but I'm afraid my cabinet is overrun."

She glanced at the tall hybrid.

An idea formed in her mind.

* * *

It was a beautiful night for a carnival. The cool breeze intermittently stirring in the trees couldn't detract from the unseasonable warmth of the mildest winter they'd seen in years, and the air smelled of butter and popcorn and hot cotton candy.

"Are you a Medium, Large or XL?" Bonnie proffered the volunteer t-shirts to Klaus with an overly-bright smile on her face. His own remained stony.

She lowered her voice, "Look, this way, we can walk around and keep our eyes open and no one's going to ask any questions."

"That can just as easily be accomplished with compulsion."

"I'm not letting you compel a bunch of people at a public event."

"You seem to be under the impression that would stop me."

"I would stop you."

"By performing magic at a public event?"

She bit her tongue, then tried a different approach, "You'd be volunteer security, what if I said you could rough people up - within reason - when they act crazy?"

"Are you trying to offer me entertainment?"

Rudy came up behind her, "There you are, honey. I thought you'd be getting into the fried pickles already." He noticed Klaus, "Hi there, can I help you?"

"Dad, this is-"

"Niklaus." Klaus shook Rudy's hand with an innocuous enough grin, but Bonnie decided to nip things in the bud.

Rudy sized him up and gave his daughter a quick glance "Are you a friend of Bonnie's?"

"He's a foreign exchange student, English isn't his first language," she grabbed Klaus' arm and started steering him away, "gotta show him where the bathrooms are."

"Bon,wait-"

"Be right back."

"Don't want daddy dearest to know the company you keep?" Klaus teased when they were out of earshot.

"Please don't say anything to him. I'm _begging_ you."

He arched an eyebrow. She swallowed her pride and donned her most humble expression.

"Please, Klaus." _He's all I have_ , she wanted to add. Her last tether to the warmth and simplicity of a human world. Klaus wouldn't understand, he'd lived in a different world for a thousand years. Still, she implored him with her eyes and hoped her usefulness as a witch would outweigh his utter contempt for human niceties.

He stared at her for a few moments, then abruptly looked away. "Very well," he drawled.

She could feel his eyes on her as she walked back to Rudy.

"Is your friend alright?"

"He's fine. What's up, Dad?"

Rudy beamed down at her, "Carol just called me. The Founders Council wants to sponsor me for the next mayoral campaign."

"Wow!" she couldn't hide her surprise. What did the Founders Council want with Rudy? "That's...great. Congrats, dad."

He pulled her into a hug, "I couldn't have done it without you, baby. This is going to change everything, I can feel it."

She jumped, it was there again: the same black dog. It looked at her from between some trees but was gone in a flash.

"You ok, Bon?"

"Yeah...yeah I just need to go check on something."

"Hey," Rudy pinched her chin playfully, "loosen up, have some fun. We did it. Look at all these people."

She smiled in return, but all she could feel was the dead weight of responsibility.

* * *

"Oh for goodness sake," they'd been walking around looking for any sign of the strange dog when, without warning, Klaus grabbed her elbow and guided them both over to a food stand redolent with the aroma of butter and fried dough. Before Bonnie knew what was happening, he'd slapped down some cash and handed her a plate of the funnel cake.

"What-"

"Every single time we walked by this spot you paused and sighed like a lovesick teenager."

"We should keep patrolling-,"

"Eat the bloody cake, Bonnie."

She glanced down at the plate where sugar and butter were melting off the hot dough. It was funnel cake. _Fine_.

Sitting down on a bench she started tearing off pieces with her hands. The cake melted in her mouth and she closed her eyes, sighing contentedly.

"It's like watching a newborn vampire with their first kill," Klaus remarked, sitting down next to her.

She scrunched her face."Shut up. You don't know anything about funnel cake."

"I know a bakery in Paris that would make you forget all about these cheap American confections. I suppose you've never had mille-feuille?"

Bonnie gave a wry laugh in between mouthfuls of cake, then looked around at the busy carnival. "It's funny, before you took me to see my mother I'd never even left Mystic Falls. Now I have all these applications on my kitchen table to places like NYU and Brown..."

He smirked a little but there was a contemplative look in his eyes, "So, little Miss. Mystic Falls is spreading her wings at last."

She was about to respond when her phone flashed with a text message from Rudy.

/Gonna go help with the fireworks, make sure you find a good spot!/

Suddenly, something snatched the funnel cake right out of her hand. She saw the dog, the same dog, take off into the crowd with cake clamped between its jaws.

Bonnie looked at Klaus for a millisecond, then they leaped to their feet and sprinted after it.

Even without vampire speed he was easily faster than her. Bonnie tried to keep up without knocking over anyone, but wasn't entirely successful.

"Sorry!" she yelled at a woman who's popcorn bucket sailed through the air in her wake. Klaus was heading towards the ferris wheel that loomed over the carnival. She leaped aside to avoid a group of kids and nearly tripped, righting herself just in time.

People were filing away from the ferris wheel, and she saw the dog weave between their legs and head to the ride entrance. Pumping her arms harder, Bonnie closed the distance between her and Klaus. Abruptly, he came to a halt and she bumped into his back.

"There you are." He didn't even sound winded,

"Where'd it go?"

He pointed at the ride entrance and she followed him in.

Before she could stop him, Klaus looked the attendant in the eye. "Do exactly as I say. First, close the ride."

The dog was sitting calmly by one of the ferris wheel cabs, like it was waiting for them. It dropped the remnants of her cake by the cab and pawed the ground.

She exchanged a look with Klaus.

When they glanced back at the cab the dog was gone.

"Well," the hybrid said dryly, "guess there's nowhere else to go but up."

* * *

Okay, so she'd reneged on her conviction that she wouldn't let Klaus compel anyone. But she couldn't exactly let people keep using the ride when a supernatural dog had clearly indicated there was something she needed to see. Plus, there was a small part of her that was a little thrilled at having a ferris wheel all to herself. Well, herself and Klaus.

They couldn't see the dog anywhere, but there was nothing else out of the ordinary either.

As their cab halted on topl, Mystic Falls came into view, spread out around them like a picture.

Bonnie drank in the shapes of the houses, the streets appearing in and out of sight, the wall of forest on the horizon full of trees that had existed long before her and would continue to exist long after she was gone. It all looked like a postcard she could hold in her hands. Her heart ached suddenly although she couldn't understand why.

"You are meant for a bigger world than this, little witch," Klaus said beside her.

"This is all I've ever known, my whole life-" she tried to explain, to capture in words this strange, bittersweet nostalgia that had taken hold, "I was born here."

"So was I."

She turned to look at him, and was caught off guard by how close he was. There was a time when his closeness signalled lethal danger. And although she wasn't afraid for her life in that moment, being close to him still felt dangerous.

His words registered in her mind. "But you don't like this 'godforsaken town'. You're just here because you need something. It's different for me. I still want good things for this place and the people here even though...," she paused, giving a half-smile, "that's not too stupid, is it?"

She wondered what he was thinking, what he saw when he looked out over the vista of her- their hometown. His eyes met hers, dark and unreadable. "This place might _look_ like a provincial dream, love, but it cares nothing for hearts like yours. It'll chew and spit you out at a moment's notice. Remember that."

"That's... depressing."

He leaned back in his seat, stretching an arm out along the back of the cab. Her gaze fell to the strange assortment of beaded necklaces around his neck. Today there was a small wooden cross attached, and a silver symbol she didn't recognize. Everything and nothing about him was careless. He carried himself with the confidence of a man who knew his own self utterly and without illusion. She wondered if he'd ever been like her, young and yearning.

His hand toyed with a stray curl of her hair before tucking it behind her ear. "I learned many lifetimes ago, to stop wishing for things I was never meant to have."

His gaze was suddenly intense, focused on her. That sense of danger returned to tease her, wicked and exciting.

"Like what?" she asked, boldly. Her heart was rattling like a bird in a cage. Whatever it was that was filling the air between them, she wanted to name it, and perhaps then its power would be broken.

The clock struck twelve.

Cheers and ringing bells filled the air. Somewhere a speaker began blasting Auld Lang Syne. His eyes were burning into her. Her boldness evaporated and she was back to being shy and awkward Bonnie Bennett who'd never left Mystic Falls. Face flushed, she averted her gaze.

And noticed something strange.

Every treetop far as the eye could see was covered in a black, fluttering shadow. She looked harder, and noticed small, gleaming shapes.

"Klaus-," she gripped the corner of his jacket.

"I see them, love."

Ravens, dozens and dozens of them, were perched over the whole town. They were eerily still, like witnesses to a story already in motion. Goosebumps broke out on her skin and everything blurred into a distant hum. _Death_ , was all she could think and taste. _Death, death, death_ , all around her, crouching, crawling like a hundred roaches from a drain, like a dog in the undergrowth, birds hungry for human eyes.

She started shaking.

Klaus' hand cupped her cheek, jolted her back into herself. His face was questioning, concerned,"What is it?"

She'd had visions and prophetic dreams before, but this, this was nothing like that. This was pure horror vibrating in every cell of her body. This was her magic screaming a wordless warning. She couldn't even begin to describe it. She opened and closed her mouth. She couldn't speak.

He frowned, "We should get down from-,"

His words were interrupted by the explosion of fireworks. One, two, three they shimmered violent color across the sky. Klaus muttered a curse. She couldn't understand why.

And then she heard them, wings rustling like an enormous cloak.

The ravens all burst from the trees, rushing angrily into the sky, and it was a different kind of explosion. Bonnie froze in panic. Klaus pulled her against him, shielding her with his arm and back as a storm of wings roared past them. The whole sky seemed to crackle with their flight and their croaking went on and on, echoing in her skull. She covered her ears and huddled into his chest.

The birds were screaming all around her in a language she couldn't understand. She wanted to beg them to stop but her mouth wouldn't move. Blinding light filled her eyes, tearing into her brain with a vision.

"Bonnie -"

She saw a stone staircase leading to a white door that swung slowly open. Something terrible was behind that door...

" -stay with me, love," Klaus was saying, somewhere far away. She clung to the sound of his voice and felt his other hand cradle the back of her head.

And then, just like that, it was over.

Slowly she came back to herself and the terrifying, crawling panic receded from her mind as the ravens disappeared into the night sky. Klaus tilted her face up, searching for any signs of injury. His fingers traveled over her neck, sifting through her hair.

She was still clutching the lapels of his jacket. "You were right. Something's coming, something bad."

That ringing terror threatened to rise in her memory and she shivered.

"What's coming? What did you see?"

"I-I don't know...I just, there was a staircase and a door, someone was opening the door and I-," panic filled her throat again, "I don't know-,"

"What else?" his eyes bored into hers, and his fingers were almost digging into her arms.

"I don't know, I-," she looked down at the ground from their cab and her stomach dropped. She felt cold all over. "I think I'm gonna be sick-,"

She felt rather than saw his intensity relent. He exhaled gruffly.

"Tomorrow, then. When you've had some rest." Detaching her hands, he shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her. Her head lolled a little against his shoulder, and when he spoke his breath was warm and close."Let's get you home."

The wheel started moving again and they were on the ground before she knew it.

They walked through the crowd, Klaus supporting her weight a little as she reoriented herself.

Somewhere a raven gave one last cry and disappeared into the sky, and the smoke lingering above them smelled like a coming storm.

Letting instinct guide her, Bonnie nestled closer to the only safety that was tangible.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Something wicked this way comes indeed. Hope you liked! xoxox_


	8. Chapter 8

" _And down the other air and the blue altered sky  
_ _Streamed again a wonder of summer  
_ _With apples  
_ _Pears and red currants  
_ _And I saw in the turning so clearly a child's  
_ _Forgotten mornings when he walked with his mother  
_ _Through the parables  
_ _Of sunlight  
_ _And the legends of the green chapels" -_ Dylan Thomas _, 'Poem in October'_

* * *

Bonnie focused on the three candle-flames until they filled her vision. Without moving her gaze - the spell required steady eye-contact on the flames in order to initiate- she began to mouth the Latin chant that had taken two days to perfect.

As always with Reflective magic the spell had a kick, like a car switching gears, and Bonnie caught her breath. The air grew still, then rippled like water. Her muscles froze and the candles flared. She closed her eyes and let the magic wash over her, concentrating on her vision from the night of the carnival.

The spell was strong, the vision appeared almost instantly like there was a projector slide behind her eyelids. She could see the strange white door, beckoning silently atop a winding staircase. She waited a few seconds before exhaling slowly and trying to push forward in her mind, letting the spell guide her. This was the point where the spells usually faltered, but this one persevered, coalescing into soft, silver tendrils that wound themselves up the staircase. _Finally._

Her heart started to pick up speed as those shiny threads tugged her up and up, closer to that white door. Soon the threads were no longer silver, but white-hot. _Almost there._ The door loomed before her, making her dizzy, and the threads of her consciousness sizzled, sending sharp pain through her temples. Panic brushed her. The spell was fading. _Damn it._ She was so close. Bonnie gritted her teeth through the throbbing pain in her skull. Just a few more seconds and she could touch the doorknob, push it open and see-

"Ah!"

The spell shut off abruptly. It was like being zapped with a live wire. Her eyes flew open and she swayed back into something warm and firm.

Klaus.

The strong scent of wax emanated from the extinguished candles. He must've put them out.

"Why'd you-," she blinked, shaking off the effects of the spell, "-I almost had it."

A large hand cupped her jaw, making her look up over her shoulder. His face loomed above hers, and for a moment his eyes filled her whole world. "Looks like it almost had you."

It took a second for his words to register, and then suddenly she felt the salty wetness of blood on her upper lip. Klaus stepped swiftly away from her and Bonnie lowered herself into a chair, wiping the back of her hand across her nose.

He put a glass of water and a small rag in front of her, then poured himself a drink while she dabbed at her nose. Taking a seat across from her, he leaned back in his chair, a watchful look on his face.

"What happened? Why'd you put the candles out?"

"Thank you, Klaus, for noticing my nose sprung a leak. You're very welcome, love. Happy to be of assistance."

"I had it under control," she mumbled, taking a drink of water.

"Yes the blood coming out your nose really cemented your success-,"

"I've gotten nosebleeds before, this is nothing compared to other spells I've had to do-,"

"Maybe I would rather not deal with an unconscious witch, or force-feed you my blood only to have you wake up and pop my brain like a tomato."

"I wouldn't-,"

He raised his eyebrows, "Overextend yourself at the drop of a hat? I find that extremely hard to believe given your history."

"I'm not some loose canon, Klaus," she bristled.

"That is exactly what you are," he grunted, "It's not entirely your fault, no one's really been around to teach you about control when it comes to magic, have they?"

She flinched a little at that and looked down at her glass of water, thinking of Abby and Sheila. It wasn't a pleasant feeling.

Silence stretched between them.

"Come," a few moments later he was standing over her, hand extended, "I have an idea about what might help."

Bonnie looked at him skeptically. But then again, he had prevented the spell from draining her. And he'd been around witches longer than her. Maybe he did have some answers.

 _Fine._

"This better be good," she muttered under her breath, following behind him down a long corridor and some stairs.

"Consider yourself lucky, love. Not many people get to see my archives."

* * *

"Wow. I can see why you don't bring anyone down here."

"Impressive, isn't it?"

"Impressive how you can find anything in this mess," she carefully sidestepped a stack of wooden crates. "This place is one gigantic fire hazard."

"This place," he sounded offended, "holds knowledge that could rival the Library of Alexandria."

"Before or after it was destroyed in a fire?"

He scowled and Bonnie bit back a smile. Secretly though, she was overwhelmed by the ceiling-high piles of boxes and statues and books.

She leaned down to peer at an old fashioned music box with a tiny glass ballerina. "Does this still work-,"

Klaus captured her hand mid-reach. She gave him a puzzled look. "Sorry, just thought I'd try."

"That box is centuries old..."

"...Oh."

He released her hand slowly, "Wait here. And don't touch anything."

She nodded, glancing uneasily at the music box. Klaus disappeared between some stacks and she found a spot on the floor.

A pile of manuscripts wrapped in twine caught her eye. The paper looked old and brittle, and the handwriting was carelessly beautiful calligraphy, words crowded together like someone wrote them in great urgency, or with the preternatural speed of a vampire's hand.

A sudden crash followed by cursing made her jump. "...Klaus?"

"Just...rearranging," came a growled reply.

She suppressed a giggle and scooted closer to the manuscripts to peer at the date. As she did so, her shoulder brushed a small wooden cabinet, causing it to wobble slightly. A piece of rough cloth dropped beside her, falling open to reveal a curious, delicate pendant shaped like a bird.

It was an amulet, she could tell. The radiating magic made her fingertips tingle to pick it up.

Bonnie bit her lip and tried to look away. There was something about this object, some powerful magic, yes, but something else too. Something haunting. The pendant hung from a small, crude leather cord.

Small enough for a child's neck.

When she touched the tiny silver bird it pulsed with a piercing power, welled with an untold story. Such an incongruous little thing in a collection of objects that would put many museums to shame, and yet...

"Found it," Klaus said from somewhere behind the stacks.

Bonnie didn't think. Or maybe the thought swept by so fast it was almost reflexive.

She quickly stuffed the necklace in her pocket.

* * *

By the time they reached the lake it was dark and the moon high. She glanced at the time.

"Got somewhere to be, love?" Klaus, who never seemed to miss anything, remarked casually.

"You're going to laugh."

"Probably."

"I'm late for waltzing practice," Bonnie delivered with as straight a face as possible.

Klaus blinked before a short laugh burst from his chest. "Do I dare inquire?" he chuckled, turning a page of the small leather bound tome he'd brought from his library.

She sat down on the log next to him, "The carnival was such a success that they want a follow up. So the Founders Council is organizing a 'spring ball'...complete with waltzing and an orchestra and the whole works. It's going to be big."

"Do try and contain your enthusiasm, sweetheart."

She traced slow circles in the dirt with her foot. It's true, she hadn't given much thought to the event that everyone else and their aunt had been obsessed with for the past few weeks. People seemed to think the ball would herald some kind of dawning prosperity for Mystic Falls, but all she could think about were ravens crowding the sky.

"I just think everyone forgets about things too quickly. Some fancy party isn't going to make all the people who're dead come back. It's not going to change anything that's happened or make this town perfect. Everyone's just going to forget, until something happens again."

"So cynical," he teased.

"Guess I've been spending too much time with you," she replied, pointedly.

"There you're incorrect, love. My dastardly deeds have yet to dissuade me from a good party," he leaned in so their shoulders were touching, "Can I offer you some advice?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may'/ Old Time is still a-flying."

"...is there a less pretentious way to make your point or?"

A half-smile graced his face, "You're young, and beautiful, love. Do young and beautiful things. The rest...will always find you."

There was a funny feeling in her chest. She couldn't remember the last time someone called her beautiful, or said it so...coolly. Klaus said she was beautiful the way some people say the sky is blue or the rain is wet.

Bonnie swallowed her embarrassment and looked away, "...are you sure that's what the poem meant?"

"Well, it was more a desperate plea to his girlfriend so she would - how do you say - let him pop her cherry. But the metaphor is still useful."

"I'm sure," she mumbled, trying to change the subject. "So what's this spell?"

The knowing smile still lingered around his lips as he pointed at the page. "The spell is the same as before, except this time you will be channelling someone. When a witch channels another-,"

"- their powers get amplified, like a surge."

He flashed a curious look, "You've done this before?"

"Yup, someone else popped that cherry." She meant for the comment to be light and playful but didn't quite manage it. _Luka_. She hadn't thought about him in ages.

"Who was he?"

 _Someone I liked. Someone they all forgot about._

It all seemed so far away, that windswept afternoon when their magic made the leaves dance. Magic had never felt like that before or since.

 _Someone I forgot about._

"He was a warlock I met before you came to town." She looked out over the silver-dark water, "It was just a couple times, but it was nice..."

He made a scoffing kind of sound and she gave him a displeased look.

"My apologies, I'm sure he was... adequate. Let me hazard a guess, you held hands and the magic happened?"

"It wasn't just like that-,"

"But it was quick, and over too soon."

"I...," her face was burning. Why did he always have to lace his words with double entendre?

"Channeling is a thousand year-old practice," he said, softly, "it must feel gradual and purposeful, ebb and flow like the tide."

" _You've_ obviously been...umm channelled a lot."

"Never, actually."

Her eyes widened.

Klaus gave a crooked smile, "I watched enviously for centuries while witches in my employ channeled lesser werewolves, longing for the day I could be a source of power." He paused, "That is, if you would allow me the privilege."

Her mind flashed back to the first night he'd brought her here, how she'd felt his wolf-energy tingling in the air. To channel _that_ , feel that raw power inside of her...Bonnie looked away from his intense stare. "And channeling you will...help maintain the spell?"

"In theory, yes. Your magic will fuel itself from an external source, meaning you can push the spell without encountering the physical limitations of a mortal body."

His words were like pebbles falling into a pond, stirring ripples of excitement and wonder. Still, she hesitated. "And if it doesn't work?"

"You have the power to stop anytime you wish."

Bonnie exhaled slowly and stood up, dusting off her jeans. "Fine, let's gather the rosebuds or whatever."

Klaus set the book down and joined her, placing three candles in the ground. A dimpled grin spread across his cheek as she lit them with an eyeblink. "Do be gentle, love. It's my first time."

"Please stop talking."

She ignored his low laughter and closed her eyes, rolling her shoulders and opening her hands. The flesh of her palms tingled in the cool night air and she latched on to that sensation, letting the sparks travel up her arms and neck and across her scalp. The energy of the forest pulsed like a heartbeat. Her lips parted. She'd forgotten how this could feel. When Klaus first brought her here she'd plugged into nature hesitantly, tiredly, looking for something - anything - that would taste alive. Now, her magic - unlocked to its full potential - drew the forest's energy to her in a hungry, undaunted embrace.

Bonnie could sense him watching, and somehow she knew that he was waiting to be summoned. She almost wanted to toy with his impatient patience but instead she reached out.

Her fingers made contact with something soft - his lips, she was shocked to realize - and she sucked in a breath. Emboldened by lack of sight, she traced her hand along his jaw, his cheekbone, the ridge of his brow, his eyelids that fell close at her touch. His stubble scraped deliciously on the delicate pads of her fingers.

"Is this...okay?"

She waited in the taut silence for his reply. It was a wordless acquiescence, a long exhale sighed into her palm.

He didn't feel anything like the forest, and yet he did. The one's was a diffuse and flickering kind of energy. _His_ was like rain-soaked earth under your feet and a lungful of mountain air all at the same time. She wanted to wrap her skin in it. She almost reeled from the headrush.

No, it hadn't felt the same with Luka. She didn't know it could feel like this. It was wrong in some fundamental way - Klaus was her enemy, he'd killed people, hurt people - and right at the same time. There was a truth and fearlessness about this - about him - that she cleaved to.

"I'm going to turn around," she said quietly.

She felt him nod into her hand. With her back to him, Bonnie faced the candles and started reciting in Latin.

His hands came to rest on her hips while his nose buried itself in her hair. He seemed more wolf than Klaus, but perhaps that was the point. The spell unfurled easily, and Bonnie prepared to follow those silver tendrils to the vision she sought.

Instead, what happened next was like whiplash.

The luminescent threads of the spell turned dry and thorny like claws, grasping at images, memories.

Memories that didn't belong to her.

She saw Klaus as a child, barely seven years old, lying in a pallet on the floor. His skin shone with fever and his eyes were unfocused. He tossed and turned while a statuesque blonde woman stroked his brow, whispering, _I'm so sorry, Niklaus_. Her expression was sad yet determined. The silver shape of a bird glittered around Klaus' neck.

Bonnie felt the connection break - no, tear away. The force of it pitched her forward and she scrambled for balance, landing on her hands and knees.

She was afraid to look at Klaus. The lovely magical glow from earlier was replaced with a sick feeling, like something beautiful had been destroyed.

When she turned to face him at last, his expression looked cold, furious and, worst of all, betrayed.

"Klaus I-,"

"What did you do? How did you-," he cut himself off, fists clenching. She could've sworn his eyes flashed wolf-amber.

"I didn't mean to-,"

He towered over her, "I never gave you permission."

"I know, I know," she wrung her hands, "it was an accident-,"

"It was no accident!" he bellowed, making her jump. And suddenly she knew. The necklace. It was still in her back pocket. " _What_ did you do, Bonnie?"

With trembling hands, she fished out the small amulet and showed it to him. The air grew so still she couldn't move or breathe. His mouth twisted bitterly. "So, you stole from me."

"I was going to give it back..."

"Of course you were, once you learned how to use it against me."

"That's _not_ why I took it," she insisted, feeling defensive.

"Then tell me _why_ you would steal an object of importance from my private collection-,"

"This thing was gathering dust in a corner! How was I supposed to know that-,"

"You were told not to _touch anything_ ," he snatched the amulet out of her hands, "or did I not make myself clear?"

"I was just curious about-," she fumbled for an explanation, "it was there and I felt the magic inside it -,"

"And so you took what wasn't yours to take." He gave her a contemptuous look, "I was right about you."

"Excuse me?" she felt her temper flaring at last. He had the nerve to make _her_ feel bad, after everything _he'd_ done? Everything he probably still planned to do?

"You heard me, love" his voice slid coldly over the endearment, "you have no boundaries when it comes to magic. You would do anything, go to any lengths-,"

"That's really fucking rich coming from you -,"

" _I_ have no illusions about myself," he thundered, pointing a finger at her, "but you, you tell yourself anything you want to believe, so long as you get to toy with powers that are beyond your childish comprehension-"

"I wasn't toying with anything," she snapped, "I wanted to know-,"

"My mother tried to kill me."

A deafening silence crashed over them. Bonnie froze as shock resonated through her.

"Is that what you wanted to know?" Klaus sneered, "Does that satisfy your witchy curiosity?"

"Klaus-,"

He dangled the amulet between them, "This little bird is laced with magical poisons that are deadly to werewolves. My dear mother tried to kill the wolf and save the child. When she realized the two were inextricable, she lost her nerve."

She was rooted to the ground, her mind swirling, thinking of that little boy lying scared in his mother's arms while that same mother's gift to him drained the life out of his body.

Tears pricked her eyes. What was there to say? How could such a thing be understood?

"The amulet called to you," Klaus went on, icily, "because the magic inside it is still alive, because it sensed your connection to nature and wished to feed off it, because magic isn't always as innocent as you like to believe."

She swallowed, torn between anger and a disturbing sense of guilt. So that's why she'd been able to see his memories. The amulet was a direct connection to that part of his life, and when she channeled him for a Reflection spell that part latched on through the magic inside the amulet itself.

Klaus picked up the miniature Grimoire and shoved it inside his jacket pocket. Bonnie tried to say something, anything, but her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth, her throat choked up with too many conflicting words.

At last she found her voice, trying to touch his arm. "Klaus wait-,"

He caught her wrist before she could, just like he had back in the library when she'd, naively, reached for something more precious than she realized. His face was stony in the moonlight."I trust you can see yourself home tonight."

And releasing her hand, he disappeared into the woods.

* * *

At first, Bonnie was in denial that Klaus could legitimately be angry with her for something other than thwarting his schemes. But the days turned into a week and she neither saw or heard from him.

Then, she was furious again. He had no right, _none_ , to take any kind of moral high ground with her. He was a thousand year old immortal creature with the blood of entire villages on his hands. All she'd done was taken something that didn't belong to her, out of _innocent_ curiosity.

One week turned into two, and she found herself glancing at her phone several times during the day only to find it frustratingly blank. Surely he wasn't just _done_ with her? Her inner voice mocked her, _And what exactly was he doing with you?_ He'd lived for centuries, consorted with hundreds of worldly, powerful witches. Maybe he was right, maybe she was just a child playing with fire.

And with that came depression. Mystic Falls seemed to close in around her, suffocating and unbearably familiar. She felt restless and impatient, barely finished her homework, and stopped obsessively checking her mailbox for college admission letters. The moments she spent with Klaus, she realized, gave her a glimpse of a larger, more vivid world. And she began to despair she would ever escape her hometown to see that world.

It Caroline who tracked her down two days before the ball, chided her for skipping waltzing practice and, in the same breath, insisted on taking her out for a milkshake. They found themselves in their old booth at Mystic Grille, sipping their shakes - strawberry for Bonnie, chocolate with extra caramel for Caroline - and complaining about Algebra homework.

It almost felt normal, and Bonnie was grateful for that.

"Hey, Care. Can I ask you something?"

"You can't skip the last day of practice."

"I promise I'll be there."

"Good, I don't want my friends embarrassing me."

"Thanks," Bonnie said dryly.

The blonde smiled and took a delicate sip of her shake.

"Do you think I'm irresponsible when it comes to magic?" Bonnie blurted.

"Oh boy. Do you want the truth or the friend-lie?"

"What's a friend lie?"

"A friend lie is when people sugarcoat the truth because they know you aren't ready. Also known as the fake-friend truth."

"...can't I just have the _real_ friend truth?"

Caroline shrugged, "You're irresponsible and downright scary when it comes to magic."

Bonnie opened and closed her mouth. Caroline continued sipping her drink. After a pause the blonde gave her a slightly pitying look. "Too real?"

"I guess I asked," Bonnie mumbled.

Her friend folded her hands and leaned forward, "It doesn't mean you're a terrible person. You actually try really hard to be 'good', more than anyone else around here. But sometimes, you'll do _anything_ so long as you think it's the 'right' thing."

Caroline's statement was precise as cut-glass, and just as sharp. Bonnie swallowed the defensive words rising in her throat.

"What happened? Did Elena say something?"

"No. It was...someone else. You don't know them," she added emphatical, well aware of Caroline's bloodhound nose for gossip.

"What'd you do?"

"You could sound a little less excited about me messing up," Bonnie deadpanned.

"What? I thought we were being honest."

The witch rolled her eyes while Caroline feigned innocence.

"Soooo," the latter urged, "what'd you do?"

Bonnie fiddled with her straw, "I...took something that belonged to this person, without asking. Something...private."

"And now they're upset. But you don't want to apologize because you think you're better than them."

"...ouch."

"You said you wanted 'real friend truth'."

Bonnie slumped down in her seat, muttering "Can I change my order to something nicer?"

Caroline tossed her long blonde locks over her shoulder with the air of someone rolling up their sleeves. "Look. As far as I'm concerned, apologies are like wearing thongs."

" _What?_ "

"They're uncomfortable and make us squirm a lot, but our asses looks great."

" _How_ is having a great ass at all relevant in this situation?"

"One, a great ass is always relevant. Two, I don't believe in being uncomfortable without good reason. Is this person a good enough reason?"

Bonnie looked down at her drink. Two images pulled at her: Klaus, her enemy, breaking Tyler's neck and challenging her to rise to her role as hero, and Klaus, her strange companion, pulling her out of a spell that was physically hurting her. Two sides of one coin.

"Do they matter to you?" Caroline pressed.

Bonnie grew silent, afraid of what her answer might be.

* * *

 **A/N:** _I'm really proud of this chapter for nerdy writer reasons, but hopefully it was an enjoyable read as well. Thank you to all the reviewers, y'all help keep this story going. As always, feedback is much appreciated!_

 _P.S: For those of you that aren't on Tumblr, I've made a fanmix for this fic on 8 Tracks. You can find me under Anastasia_G, or just look for the mix in the Klonnie tag (yes, 8 Tracks has a Klonnie tag and it's got some lovely playlists)_


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N:** Hi lovely readers. Before we get into this chapter I'm going to abuse the A/N for a PSA. I won't name names, but those of you on Tumblr know that a certain Klonnie fic has been plagiarizing other writers, including myself. I'm going to reach out to the author eventually, but in the meantime I would like to urge all of you to please speak out whenever you notice instances of plagiarism in your fandoms. If you appreciate fanfic and the labor that goes into it, please do support your writers not only by reviewing but by urging others to uphold standards of creative integrity in your communities. And thank you to all of you who do make this work worthwhile with your consistent and loving support. This concludes the PSA!_

 _On to the fic: this is the chapter I've been waiting to write since I first started this story almost a year ago. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did imagining and writing it. A huge thank you to my beta-bae Cait who keeps pushing me to tell the sincerest story I can. There's only one more installment left after this one!_

* * *

" _You can throw all your lucky coins on me._

 _On me."_

\- Gregory Alan Isakov

* * *

"I'm doing your makeup right?"

"Are you kidding? The last time you did my makeup I looked like a raccoon," Bonnie reminded her friend, balancing the phone under her ear so she could pour some milk into her Cheerios.

"Excuse you?" Caroline's voice pitched so high the phone almost jumped off Bonnie's shoulder into the bowl of cereal."You looked sophisticated and mature."

"Yeah, so sophisticated that two different men _and_ a woman offered me money to go home with them."

Caroline sighed, "You know what your problem is?"

She chewed a mouthful of her breakfast thoughtfully, "That I let you talk me into bad makeup decisions?"

"You're afraid to stand out. Attention terrifies you," Caroline stated with cheery triumph.

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "Any other insights, O Wise One?"

"I'm just saying. I know these things."

"...anyway. Is Tyler taking you?"

"He is! I'm picking up his tie right now. Do you know how long I've waited to get him in a suit again?"

"Since the last Decades Dance?"

"It's almost as fun as getting him out," Caroline's voice lowered like she was divulging classified information, "Bennett, have I told you how much hotter sex with a hybrid is?"

"I really don't-,"

"I'm talking technique, stamina-,"

"You know-"

"- even _size_ ,"

She almost spewed soggy cereal across the kitchen table, "That can't be a thing."

"You laugh now, wait till the first time you get some supernatural sex."

"...bye, Care."

"This ball's gonna be so much fun and exactly what we all need," she then clicked her tongue in mild annoyance, "Ugh, I hope Klaus doesn't show up."

Bonnie felt her stomach drop, and for the thousandth time since she'd done it she regretted mailing him that invitation. What was she thinking? What would she even say to him? Yes, perhaps it was better if he didn't come at all.

She dumped the rest of her cereal in the sink,"Yeah, me too."

An inner voice mocked her softly. _Liar._

* * *

She'd meant the invitation as an apology. It made sense at the time. Now, a few hours from the ball, Bonnie cursed that moment of weakness. She was terrible at apologies, which is why she worked desperately to be good and principled. It was easier than admitting you were wrong. To admit your mistakes was to concede that you could be discarded, left behind, forgotten. It was to accept that, no matter how hard you tried, no matter the lies they tell you, people just don't cherish broken things. She understood now, though she could not forgive, why Abby had fled rather than dwell in the shadow of her failures. Why she'd left before anyone could leave her.

And Klaus, well, he was no doubt far away from little Mystic Falls, traveling to exotic destinations she couldn't possibly pronounce, touring art galleries and sampling food or blood or both.

He was gone, she told herself as the sun began to set. Klaus Mikaelson was gone.

The realization washed over her like a tide and receded slowly, leaving only emptiness where her relief should be.

* * *

She was concentrating on steaming her dress and barely noticed Rudy poking his head around the door.

"Bonnie?"

"Hey Dad," she inspected her ironing job, "I can do your suit later if you want."

He was regarding her with a wistful smile on his face. He seemed tired, his face lined from too many late nights at work.

She turned off the steamer. "Is everything ok?"

"Everything's great, honey. In fact, come with me."

Curious, she followed him downstairs. Rudy paused at the entrance to the dining room and shuffled his feet.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't go shopping for your dress together. I've been so busy with Council stuff and-,"

"Dad, it's really ok-,"

He grasped her hands, "No, it isn't."

There was a quiet vehemence in his voice she'd never heard before. Rudy was not a man given to displays of emotion. Ever since she was a little girl her father had been a calm but constant presence, a steady ebb and flow in her life. They didn't really talk about what they meant to each other. They just lived.

But now, he seemed almost nervous, causing concern to ripple through her in turn. "Dad...what's going on?"

"Nothing, nothing...," he glanced over his shoulder, "just uh...close your eyes. And walk with me."

She complied, though not without a grin, "Is MTV here? Are you gonna give me a car and then I cry because it's a Porsche instead of a Mercedes?"

"Keep dreaming big hun," he chuckled, "okay...here we are."

She opened her eyes. A fancy dry-cleaning bag with a gilt zipper lay across the dining room table. Her father wore a look of hesitant expectation.

Bonnie pulled the zipper open and her breath caught in her throat. Inside was a dress, pale-green and soft as rain to the touch, with small applique flowers clinging to the shoulders. It was beautiful in the delicate way of a spring morning, cut in elegant, feminine lines. _Vintage couture,_ Caroline would've said.

"Dad...,"

"Do you like it?" he hedged, "I know it's a bit old-fashioned-,"

" _Like_ it?" she ran her hands over the diaphanous material, and her face sobered "This is perfect, but...,"

"What's wrong?"

"Are you sure we can afford this? I know how much money you spent on the carnival-,"

"Hey, it's my job to worry about money," he gave her a fond look, "Besides," he reached into his pocket and produced r a small black-and-white photograph, "the dress belonged to her."

Bonnie gazed at the young woman in the polaroid wearing the same dress. She was poised and radiant, roses pinned in her upswept curls.

"Grandma Ava," she touched the beaming heart-shaped face, "she looks so beautiful here."

Rudy looked over her shoulder, his voice soft with memory, "She was just shy of eighteen in that picture."

"Wow...," she turned the photograph over, "look, there's a note."

 _Dearest Neil,_

 _The moon was so beautiful tonight, it made me miss you terribly._

 _Write me when you get the chance._

 _All my love, Ava._

"Who's Neil?"

"I don't really know," Rudy mused, "a high school sweetheart maybe, before your grandpa came into the picture. Looks like she wrote Neil's address but never sent it."

"I wonder why...," she trailed off, looking into her grandmother's smiling face.

"You know, you remind me of her. Always have."

"Really?"

Her father touched her cheek, "She was always kind, always thinking of other people. Everybody and their uncle would come talk to her about their problems. She'd just make some sweet tea and listen to them get it off their chest."

Bonnie traced the outline of flowers on Ava's dress, "I wish I could've met her."

"Me too, baby. She would've spoiled you rotten."

"Think _she_ would've bought me a car?"

Rudy rolled his eyes and Bonnie turned back to the dress, "How did you find this anyway?"

"In the attic of her old house. I was going through some stuff we could sell -," he paused, like he'd said too much.

"Dad...,"

He shook off the brief melancholia and held her gently by the shoulders, "I thought I told you not to worry didn't I?" Rudy nodded at the garment, "Besides, if I hadn't looked I would've never found this dress. She sewed it herself, you know. She would have wanted you to have it."

His eyes, so much like hers, were heavy with small defeats and papercut sorrows, yet they gazed at her now full of a patient tenderness you could only learn from sitting quietly and for a long time with grief. He'd been twelve years old, still a boy, when Ava had passed from cancer. He'd worked all his life, put himself through law school. And when Abby left, he'd filled in the swimming pool with concrete and looked after his daughter the best he could.

Bonnie wished she could tell him all the ways he'd taught her to endure things that were beyond enduring.

Instead she held up the photograph to his face, smiling as the resemblance floated slowly into view, "You have her eyes. I guess we both do."

* * *

The night was like a drop of champagne after months of abstinence. She felt fluttery and tremulous and almost too light on her feet. Ribboned flowers festooned the walls of the restored ballroom, streaming from the pillars and filling the air with faint intoxication.

The Council had outdone itself. Almost everyone of importance in Mystic Falls was here, and there was an ambience of old regality that was both exciting and intimidating.

Bonnie was surprised to find that she knew how to waltz despite having missed a bunch of practice. She took a few turns with Rudy, who was both proud and relieved that his exhausting efforts at organizing had paid off. Several people stared like they couldn't quite recognize her. She didn't blame them. For a while she'd only been half-alive, trailing through her days like a watery ghost.

But not tonight.

Tonight she was trembling on a precipice, wanting to leap into an unknown sky.

 _You can't live on shadows and rooftops forever, love. Sooner or later, you'll have to plant your feet._

She wanted...she was afraid of what she wanted, of this hunger inside her curving and wicked as a sickle blade.

There was another party, ages ago it seemed, when she'd huddled in a corner and wondered if she'd ever feel alive again. Klaus had seen her, despite her best efforts to stay hidden. And she'd seen him. She had been terrified then, even more so when he showed her how to let the forest coax her senses back to life.

It wasn't terror that seized her now when she saw him across the room, lounging by a pillar with his hands in his pockets and looking for all the world like he'd walked out of her mind.

It wasn't terror, no, but _something_ captured her, held her fast as a knot.

She wanted to flee.

She couldn't move.

Was she not herself? So what were these wild and treacherous feelings?

His deceptively indolent gaze swiveled her way. Their eyes met, the knot came tumbling loose. Awareness burned through her, and she couldn't look away

 _Oh..._

It all made heady sense: the strange restlessness that followed her everywhere, all her reckless decisions this past year.

He was walking now. The dancing couples seemed to make way just for him, but that was only an illusion, an effect of how he moved: purposeful, fluid and headed straight for her.

 _Move your feet, idiot!_

But no matter how much she willed it, her body betrayed her.

Klaus came to a stop a few feet from her, so her eyes were level with his cravat. She wanted to laugh, toss an arch remark, ask him where his stupid hippy-dippy beads were that he usually wore around his neck. But there was a fluttering inside her chest like she'd swallowed a bird, like her heart was trying to escape her ribs.

"You're here," she managed, breathless like she'd run all the way to this moment.

"I was invited," he said lightly.

A strange, feverish silence welled between them.

"Bonnie, there you are," Rudy was suddenly next to her, holding her gently by the elbow, "the Council is about to introduce a special guest, in the next room."

Her father's voice shook her back into herself, "Oh...I didn't know there was a guest of honor."

"Me either, guess Carol was the only one who knew. Sorry to interrupt, Nicholas was it?"" he turned to Klaus.

"Niklaus," he clarified with a handshake, shooting Bonnie a glance.

"Niklaus, good to see you again. And thank you for coming."

Klaus nodded and folding his hands behind his back, stepped away so Rudy could her off. The crowd was moving slowly into the adjacent room, abuzz with chatter about the mysterious guest. Bonnie glanced back over her shoulder at Klaus, who stood still as a rock that streams of people flowed around. He gave her a look weighed with unfinished business. She turned quickly away.

"You alright, honey? You seem a little flushed."

"Too much dancing," she lied hastily.

Wooden double doors opened into a second, smaller room. The crowd started filing in.

Soon they were surrounded by a crush of bodies. Carol Lockwood called Rudy away, someone was handing out glasses of champagne.

Bonnie froze.

This couldn't be-

And, yet there to the left, clear and startling as in her vision, was a winding stone staircase leading up to a single white door.

Everyone's attention was focused at the head of the room, where Rudy and Carol were now pouring champagne into a tower of glasses. She alone couldn't wrench her eyes from the pale door atop the stairs.

The choking terror from her vision floated back. Her heart was in her throat. She looked around the room in panic but couldn't spot Caroline. She and Tyler must have stolen away already. Elena was in a corner, flanked by the Salvatores. Everyone was here, and that white door would open any minute. And then-

-she jumped at the feel of his hand on the small of her back.

Klaus looked up at the stairs. "Is this what I think it is?"

Resisting the impulse to lean into his chest, she nodded, "We have to get people out of here."

"No, _we_ have to get out of here, and return with reinforcements-,"

"I'm not leaving ev-,"

"Shh!"

They both glared at the thin-lipped man.

Then, Klaus was pulling her through the crowd, towards the exit. She tried to dig in her heels and almost stumbled. "What are you doing?" she hissed.

"Getting you away from here."

"Let go," she tried to yank her hand free, but to no avail. Finally she grabbed his arm with her other hand, saying firmly, "Klaus."

The sound of his name broke his stride and he spun around so they faced each other. Her, mutinous and startled, him impatient and tense. "We are completely defenseless," he bit out, "any manner of things could be behind that door-,"

"That's why I can't leave! My father's here, everyone-,"

"Everyone did not see what you saw."

She stared at him in confusion and he made an exasperated sound, "The vision chose you, love. Don't you think this unknown danger might choose you too?"

It took her a beat to connect his words to the way he'd found her in the crowd and pulled her out.

He was concerned for her safety. In a room full of people, the first he had moved to protect was her.

No one else had ever singled her out for protection. She was always the shield, never sheltered.

And there was that feeling again, nothing like fear but just as arresting, dancing through her whole body.

The room behind them burst into applause, startling the taut silence gathered between her and the hybrid.

Bonnie turned around and felt her heart drop. The white door was half open, but there was no one there.

At the head of the room, she saw Rudy shaking hands with an older woman, and Carol Lockwood raising her glass. There were a few more cheers and polite clapping. Then, people started moving back into the main ballroom. The music started playing. The dancing resumed.

Nothing had happened. There was no one behind the door.

"I don't understand...,"

Klaus surveyed their surroundings before lightly twining his fingers in hers, "Come, let's get some air, shall we?"

* * *

The balcony was serene and refreshing in contrast. She hadn't realized how stifling the crowd had been.

They stood by the balustrade, looking over the night.

"What now?" she ventured.

"We wait, and watch. Prophecy and possibility do not always unfold how we imagine."

She chewed on her lower lip, "I don't like the waiting part."

"That makes two of us, love."

That expectant silence welled between them again. Bonnie fumbled for words amid the swirling morass of her feelings. Through it all came the piercing thought that she was grateful for his presence, found it comforting even.

She stole a glance at him.. He was gazing up at the sky, his face contemplative and almost moody in the moonlight. She had the sudden urge to run her thumb along his cheekbone, feel his stubble scratching her palm, see if he would close his eyes into her touch like he did that night in the forest-

Bonnie shook her head internally, as if she could disperse these fluttering moth-like urges so drawn to him. She followed his line of sight into the sky, and the moon's brilliance.

"It's a full moon."

"So it is."

"Shouldn't you be running through the woods howling at the sky?"

He seemed amused, "Are you regretting your invitation?"

"No," she said hastily, feeling suddenly timid, "I just...assumed you had more fun things to do."

"More fun than listening to the Whitmore College orchestra butchering some of my favorite composers? Doubtful."

She couldn't help cracking a grin. The Whitmore music students were notorious for their big-fish-in-a-small-pond complex.

Klaus gave her a sidelong glance, "Although, you are right in one regard. When the moon is full, the night becomes something else, something alive. Everyone senses her power, even humans."

Perhaps the moon was the reason she felt this way, like her skin couldn't contain whatever was simmering underneath. "I...didn't know that."

"The lure is felt in the blood. Here," he brushed two finger tips over the pulse at her throat, then flitted down to the inside of her wrist, "and here."

No, it wasn't just the moon.

"I'm sorry," she blurted, "about the amulet."

 _Smooth, Bennett. Real smooth._

"Are you now?" he asked, rubbing light circles on her wrist.

"I should have just asked you, or left it alone. It wasn't any of my business."

She wished he would stop touching her wrist. It was hard to think with him standing so close.

"Perhaps my reaction was...harsh," he said in a low voice. "I'm not used to people barging into my head unannounced -"

"I know, I-,"

He slid a finger under her chin, aligning their gazes.

" - and you, troublesome little witch," he sighed, "are in my head quite enough already."

She felt a thousand different things, but the foremost was a kind of elation that made her want to float off the ground. Everything came to a head, she couldn't form thoughts or words. His eyes flickered to her lips. When had he got so close? She couldn't bear it, she would burst if she didn't do something, anything -

-she kissed him.

It was almost a reflex, she was doing it before she was aware she wanted to. She was _kissing_ Klaus. And there was no undoing transgression.

Bonnie broke the kiss, "Sorry, I'm... sorry, I don't know why I did that...,"

She registered his arm around her waist (when had that happened?) and their mouths hovering inches from each other. His eyes searched her face for a clue before resting their foreheads together, "Neither do I."

She bit back a shy smile, "Must be the moon."

Klaus gave a subtle laugh, "Can't argue with astronomy." His other arm sneaked around her and, before she could think, he'd captured her lips in his own. This was not like _her_ kiss, which had the impulsive softness of a daydream. Klaus kissed her with purpose and intensity, like something he'd planned on doing for some time. His hands glided over her back, lingering on the delicate straps of her dress before settling on her waist. His mouth was a velvety addiction, attentive and overwhelming, demanding and sensuous.

Had she been kissed before this? Seen, heard, _wanted_ before this?

Bonnie couldn't remember. She couldn't think. She was melting, melting into him.

They parted and she swayed into him a little, feeling somewhat unsteady on her feet.

Neither of them moved, as though to move would be to break something fragile.

A few more breaths in the moonlight and the orchestra started playing again. A different, more modern tune, familiar and sweet.

Klaus' made a rumbling noise of protest. "I see they are declaring war on Coltrane."

"You're not exactly Mr. Romance, are you?"

He raised an eyebrow, stepping back and pulling her towards him so they fell easily into a slow dance. "And what do contrary little witches find romantic?"

"...you could start by not calling me 'contrary'," she quipped, letting him raise their hands and spin her.

"Would you prefer stubborn? Incorrigible?"

"You know, a less gracious witch might have turned you into a frog already," she replied archly.

"Your magnanimity knows no bounds."

"Don't get smug, I haven't made up my mind yet."

Klaus turned her so she could meet his wicked grin. "Is this to say you plan to kiss me again tonight?"

"Let's see you getting kissed when you're green and slimy," she countered without missing a beat.

It was the most infinitesimal movement on his part, but suddenly she was pulled so close her bodice was pressed into his shirtfront, and her neck arched up of its own volition. The action caused one of her straps to slip down her arm. He replaced the strap slowly, as though he were reluctant to cover up that inch of her bare skin.

"You would leave me to hop around and be hunted by owls? I fail to see the fun in that."

"I'm pretty sure there's plenty of fun in watching you get hunted by an owl."

"Mmm not as much as if you let me keep all my usual extremities," his hand began to slide suggestively lower down her back. "How does that old saying go? _All the better to please you with, my dear_."

Bonnie was mortified at the funny little coughing noise that came out of her.

"Frog in your throat?"

Her face was burning, she could barely look at him. All she could think about was Caroline waxing on about _her_ hybrid as Klaus' fingers caressed the descending row of pearl buttons on her bodice like piano keys. She had the sudden image of him breaking each one off, scattering them across the floor while the curve of her back was revealed for him.

"...just a little..."

He brushed a stray curl away from her face, clearly enjoying her flustered state, "Penny for your thoughts, love."

"Do you even know what a penny is worth these days?"

His mouth dipped towards her ear, "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

"What makes you so sure I want to know?" she whispered, feeling rather than seeing his smile.

"Good point, I would much rather show you." Bonnie couldn't contain her gasp when he kissed her neck, down to her collarbone and the soft slope of her shoulder. His scruff tickled her, made her shiver. Klaus hummed against her skin, "It's quite exasperating, how lovely you are."

Her breath left her, soft and pliant. They were suspended in the moonlight. Her strap slipped down again, neither of them moved to replace it.

Bonnie was so engrossed in him she didn't notice the presence at the other end of the balcony until a clear, womanly voice floated over them.

"There's nothing quite like young love, is there?"

Her eyes flew open as a silhouette emerged into view, dressed in dark, glittering purple. The same woman Rudy and Carol had toasted their glasses to. Bonnie noted her slow, graceful walk. Why did it feel familiar?

Klaus curved his arm around her waist, keeping her protectively at his side. She unconsciously drew closer to him as the stranger came to a stop and the moon revealed her face.

The woman smiled faintly at Klaus. Her gaze, deep-set and piercing, matched his evenly. "Your grandfather had much the same look in his eyes when the moon was high." She turned to Bonnie, "Although, I don't think I ever held a candle to your beauty, my dear."

And Bonnie noticed something else, a subtle, rippling change in the air. She sensed it on her skin.

She was in the presence of magic.

Old, powerful magic.

Klaus' jaw was set in a hard line, and Bonnie felt his grip on her tighten ever so slightly. "Who are you?"

Her face grew almost wistful, though her eyes remained lucid, "Dearest Niklaus, I suppose you wouldn't remember me. The last time I saw you, you were but a babe in arms."

She slipped into a different language, one that sounded ancient and stony to Bonnie's ears, yet also full of a swelling depth. The woman spoke with fluent warmth, Klaus more reservedly. His posture was stiff, his fingers digging almost painfully into Bonnie's side. Bonnie touched his hand, drawing his attention and causing his grasp to soften.

" _Ástin mín_ ," the stranger said, and somehow Bonnie sensed the words were both an endearment and a command, "won't you introduce me to your lovely companion?"

Klaus gazed down at her for a few more seconds, a questioning look on his face like he was waiting for an answer.

This was another threshold, Bonnie realized, and he was giving her the choice.

She curled her fingers into his.

There was a flash in his eyes like pride, "Very well."

Without relinquishing his hold on her, Klaus enunciated slowly,"Bonnie Bennett, daughter of Abigail Bennett, this is Eira Sigrid, the last of her name."

 _Sigrid_. The word nagged her. She'd heard it before, in a story or a grimoire somewhere. Power radiated in that name and around the woman who carried it.

"You're a witch," Bonnie breathed.

Eira gave a gracious nod, "The same as you, my child."

The lift of her jaw, the tone of voice, the unnervingly deep gaze, Bonnie could've sworn-

She looked to Klaus, then back to Eira. It was uncanny.

"Are you two-,"

Klaus answered her unfinished thought."Related? It would appear so," he narrowed his eyes, "Bonnie, meet...my grandmother."

Bonnie reeled, a hundred questions rising and dying on her lips.

And Eira opened her arms to them, her smile white as bone.

* * *

 **A/N** : _So, Eira is an OC. She also marks the point where this story becomes even more firmly AU. I've enjoyed toying with the elements of S3 and using them to bring Bonnie and Klaus closer together, but now I think it's time they spread their wings for bigger and better things. Do let me know your thoughts!_


	10. Chapter 10

_"Unsire yourself - instead of street-maps and sounding depths/trace your name, trace the trees, trace the night into your mind. /Close your eyes and listen to the sound - try to remember - / or try to forget - here is the place you could turn and return."_ \- Kazim Ali, _The_ _River's Address_

* * *

She was walking home from her graduation dinner balancing an armful of flowers, her cap-and-gown, and diploma in one hand while trying, unsuccessfully, to check her messages, when it happened. A car floated by, a door swung open, and she was pulled inside before she could so much as squeak in surprise.

Bonnie whirled, ready to unleash a fury on whoever her abductor was. A strong hand took firm but gentle hold of her wrist, stilling the magic curled there.

"Happy graduation, love."

The hybrid grinned, clearly pleased with himself.

"Klaus what the _hell_ -," she snatched her hand away, words fading as she took in her surroundings. She was inside a very plush, very large limousine. There was a bottle of champagne sticking out of a silver ice-bucket, and enough red roses for all the wedding centerpieces in Mystic Falls. "You could've just picked me up, like a normal person," she rebuffed, but there was no trace of anger in her voice. This extravagance was overwhelming but, if she was honest with herself, also a little endearing.

Klaus rolled his eyes, laying his arm along the back of the seat. "Because this courtship has been nothing if not _normal_. Quite _normal_ how a year ago you broke every bone in my body while I cursed your name. Why, what a normal course of events..." he smirked a little.

She wrinkled her nose, "First of all, no one says 'courtship' anymore."

His arm circled her waist and she let herself be tucked into his side, resting her head on his shoulder as the limousine cruised down the streets.

She was suddenly tired, it had been a long day. Starting at 7 am, filing into the school gym behind hundreds of others, then sitting through a ponderous ceremony before joining her friends at the Mystic Grille for dinner. Now that the exhilaration was draining away, so was her energy.

"What would you call it then?" Klaus brushed his lips against her forehead, amused. One hand toyed with the loose curls at her nape, rubbing lightly along the base of her scalp.

Bonnie nestled closer to him, fiddling with a button on his white shirt.

"It's... _nice_ ," she said simply.

Klaus' fingers stilled in her hair, like he was trying on the word 'nice' for size. Bonnie doubted many people used "nice" and "Klaus Mikaelson" in the same sentence. But after a second he resumed gently massaging her neck.

"Eira was at the ceremony," Bonnie said after a beat.

"Was she?" Klaus murmured, sounding disinterested. He clearly cared little for his grandmother's civic inclinations.

"She congratulated me, more than anyone else..." she frowned a little at the memory, "it was weird. And I'm not even valedictorian - ,"

Klaus chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"You, imagining that you are comparable to any of the rabble."

"Hey, I happen to like some of the rabble," she protested.

He shrugged, "Your regard for them can't change what they are. In any case, they will soon be mere footnotes in your illustrious history."

His words stuck in her throat like a bitter pill, hard and uncomfortable to swallow. Her eyes skimmed the plush seats and vibrant roses. She doubted any of her friends had ever seen the inside of a vehicle so opulent. It was difficult to imagine that it was rolling down the simple avenues of Mystic Falls, past the same picket-fence houses, the same sidewalks she'd skinned her knees on as a child. The back of the limousine suddenly felt large and cold.

She drew closer to Klaus, and they travelled the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

He had offered to let the limousine take them anywhere she wished. But Bonnie had had enough of socializing, and so they ended up at his manor, sipping champagne on the settee and listening to old jazz records.

Except, she couldn't quite keep track of what was playing, because Klaus' lips were leaving a hot trail down her throat. She arched her neck, a hand clutching his shirt as he kissed her pulse again and again. His hand caressed her knee and began travelling up, pausing just under the hem of her dress.

A thumb grazed her thigh, a lightly sensual touch that hinted at more.

"You smell delicious...," he husked along her jaw, nipping with his teeth. Bonnie understood he wasn't just talking about her perfume. Klaus was not someone who did things by halves. He would leave no inch of her body unexplored, no sensation un-evoked. She trembled a little, suddenly a little afraid at the prospect of being known, completely and utterly.

His movements stilled and his hand dropped back to her knee. Bonnie relaxed against him, at once grateful for and overwhelmed by how well he could read her.

"Would you like your gift now?" Klaus inquired into her neck after a moment or two.

"I - I thought the limousine and champagne were my gifts..."

"Transportation and alcohol?" he scoffed, "what do you take me for, a barbarian?"

"Aren't you a Viking?" she poked his side, "so _technically_ -"

He scowled, "Finish that sentence and I will burn your entire 'school' to ash."

"Just wait till after they mail out the official diplomas please," she joked.

"Real education cannot be measured in paper and ink, love," he extricated himself and walked to his desk.

"Yeah, but my chances of getting a job _are,_ " she pointed out..

Klaus returned with a large silver-grey envelope tied with blue silk ribbon. Crouching in front of her, he placed the envelope in her lap.

"One less thing for you and your little diploma to worry about then," he said lightly.

Giving him a curious look, Bonnie pulled at the ribbon and reached inside. There was a bundle of official documents, all signed and notarized. The legal jargon was almost impossible to understand, she had to read the first page over and over again.

Realization dawned, and just as swiftly sank into her chest like a stone.

"This says that I- I _own_ land -,"

"Lands," he corrected, "that were once tended by your ancestors, Bennett witches who lived _before_ paper and ink. Every witch needs her own plot of earth in which to root her magic, your foremothers and mine knew this."

She turned the pages of the deed, seeing her name on page after page. "But this is - Klaus this is acres and acres, I -,"

Amusement curled the corners of his mouth, "Were you expecting a garden plot?"

"I wasn't _expecting_ anything. This is - ," her head was spinning, "- this is a _lot_...," she trailed off.

Klaus gave an indulgent smile, running a thumb along her cheek, "I forget."

"Forget what?"

"How unused you are to getting the things you justly deserve."

Something about his tone made her a bristle a little. "I don't know if _anyone_ deserves this much," she objected.

"You are not 'anyone'," he retorted, calmly, pulling her into his arms again.

Bonnie tried to maintain the moral high ground, but it was hard with him so close, his hands running up and down her back while his eyes lingered on her lips.

"I can't accept this, you know that," she tried softly, playing with his collar.

"Ah, I suspected you might raise an objection. Which is why I took the trouble of acquiring these lands quite legally."

She blinked in surprise.

"No one was Compelled or killed," he clarified, "although... the queues at the office of county records would tempt far nobler souls to murder or mayhem."

Bonnie tried to picture him arguing with - or more likely, charming - some weary state employee. It was as unbelievable as it was entertaining.

Klaus had seen through every objection she could possibly raise, had even ensured her conscience was satisfied.

So what was this strange, skittish feeling in her stomach?

* * *

"Is something the matter, dear?"

Across the beautifully laid table, Eira was regarding her with cool concern. Bonnie set down her fork, contemplating how frank she could be with her strange but gracious hostess.

"I'm...just not sure why I'm here."

"We are lunching in my solarium because the light is beautiful this time of year," Eira smiled, angling her head so her pearl earrings glimmered, "but I have a feeling that isn't what you meant."

Bonnie felt her curiosity stirring again, the same curiosity as when she'd received Eira's private invitation to lunch, and before, when Eira had clasped her hand at the convocation and told her she knew Bonnie was destined for great things. It was all a bit perplexing.

"If this is about me and Klaus -" she ventured, hesitantly.

"Niklaus is a grown man, and an immortal. I think he is well past the age of needing his grandmother's advice on _dating_ don't you?" Eira chuckled, "besides, he can hardly have chosen better than you, my dear."

"...thank you," Bonnie murmured, unsure how to accept such praise. Apparently both Klaus _and_ his grandmother had a penchant for unsettling frankness. The simple gravitas inspired in her a similar feeling as when Klaus had placed the deeds to several hundred acres of land in her lap like it was nothing.

"In fact," Eira continued, setting down her glass of wine, "if I were him, I would do everything in my power to keep you here. A beautiful girl like you, and a powerful witch... you do know what a catch you are, don't you dear?"

"I - thank you..." Bonnie pushed her cucumber salad around her plate, unused to such praise. She had never thought of herself as a "catch". Elena and Caroline were the ones constantly fending off admirers. And being the only witch in town after Sheila's death meant she had her plate full of decidedly unromantic responsibilities.

"Your father tells me you're going to attend Whitmore College in the fall," Eira commented.

"I am. I considered NYU and Amherst but," she shrugged, "Whitmore is affordable, it's close by, and has a great liberal arts program."

"I see," Eira dabbed a napkin at the corner of her mouth. "Bonnie, what if I told you there's a way for you to travel the world, study what you _really_ want to, train beside powerful witches and warlocks from all corners of the globe?"

Bonnie laughed, "Is this where you give me a letter to Hogwarts?"

Eira either missed or ignored the reference, her eyes glittering with purpose as she leaned forward on the table, "Tell me, did Sheila Bennett ever speak to you about The Society?"

Bonnie shook her head, a frown forming, "No but...I read about it in one of her books. I thought they were just a legend."

"Oh that they are, dear. A _living_ legend."

Eira nodded her head at one of the uniformed servants in the corner of the room who glided over and placed a small wooden scroll in front of Bonnie. Strange runes gleamed along the handles, palpable magic that made her fingers itch.

"Go ahead," Eira urged gently, "open it."

Glancing at the older woman, Bonnie unfurled the scroll, and saw _her_ name, alongside the words "scholarship" and "honor".

"I- I don't understand, I never applied for this -,"

"My dear, one does not apply to The Society. The Society chooses _you_ , based on deeds, aptitude, skill...," Eira smiled, "and of course, recommendation."

Her meaning was plain.

"You recommended me..."

"Niklaus is not the only one who's noticed how remarkable you are," Eira's voice took on a deeper, more intent timbre. "Bonnie, you have accomplished more in a few years what most witches labor _lifetimes_ for. You came close to _killing an Original_. You are intelligent, daring, and prodigiously talented. It was a privilege to recommend you."

"Eira that's...that's really nice of you but I couldn't possibly-,"

"The Society will cover all your expenses. Transportation, lodging, supplies, all of it."

There was a rushing sound in her ears as Bonnie ran her hands over the cursive writing on the scroll. Another witch had written this. Somewhere, there was a whole world of witches, full of experiences and powers she could learn and share. She thought of those almost-drowning moments in the swimming pool when she'd been surrounded by a vision of Bennett witches standing like trees in a forest, and felt that same longing twist in her heart.

"This is amazing..."

Eira was watching her expectantly, "If you do decide to accept however, you must leave in no less than a week."

"A _week_?"

"I'm afraid so. They are rather...strict about Time. I'd be happy to speak with your father if you'd like. If there is anything you need, anything at all..."

Bonnie cast around for the right words, "Eira...you're being so generous but...you hardly know me. Not to mention I almost killed a family member," she finished a little dryly.

There was that smile again, slow and knowing, white teeth gleaming. "You know, I used to be a young witch like you, a very, _very_ long time ago of course," she gave a small self-deprecating laugh, "Born into a small village, dreaming of what lay beyond the mountains, prepared to do _anything_ , pay any price, to get out." She paused, briefly lowering her eyes before fixing Bonnie with a piercing look, "Even risk my life against an insurmountable opponent."

Bonnie wanted to object, to say she'd had loftier reasons for channeling the power of a hundred witches and trying to end Klaus. And yet, all she could recall was the smell of lightning in her air, the heave of power in her veins, the heady knowledge that she might die in a firestorm of her own making. She remembered almost tasting the charred freedom of death, wanting her spirit released like a howl into the night.

Bonnie felt a strange lightness in her feet, like they were no longer touching the ground. Leave Mystic Falls on different terms, on her own terms: could she do it, deep down? Untie herself from this place she had given so much to? The place where many of her ancestors lived and died, where _she_ had died?

The younger witch swallowed, "How did you then? Get out I mean."

There was a flash of steel in Eira's features,"One day I simply decided I had enough. I pushed my way out, and I did not turn back."

"It would mean leaving -" Bonnie whispered.

"Everything," Eira said softly.

 _Every witch needs her own plot of earth in which to root her magic._

Except her magic felt anything but rooted at the moment. It was dancing and tickling her palms, like a hundred white feathers floating in a sunlit room, suspended with potential, buoyant with longing.

Eira's eyes glowed with sympathy, but her voice was unshaken. "The land of our birth can nourish us for a time, but it can also _tie us down_ , keep us from becoming all we are meant to be."

Bonnie blinked, memory melting into the present. The woman across from her was not Elena, and she was no longer sixteen, no longer a wide-eyed young witch thinking an amulet and her conviction were enough to protect her from the world.

She was feathers on a wing, and the wind was turning, the window at last swinging open.

* * *

It took her almost three days of patient explanation and not a few frustrated tears to finally convince Rudy about The Society. When he acquiesced at last, with a weary but fond look in his eyes, like he had always, somewhere deep down, seen this coming, Bonnie almost wanted to take it all back, just so he wouldn't have to watch her leave.

Caroline swallowed the information gamely enough, but not without wringing a promise from Bonnie to see each other at least once a year. The blonde also agreed, in that resolute way of hers so carefully concealed beneath a bubbly facade, to keep the truth from Elena.

She determined to tell Klaus the following night. Made up her mind, prepared her words and asked him to meet her by the lake, the place that had wordlessly become _theirs_.

She wanted to tell him...and couldn't.

It was strange. A year ago she had faced him fiercely and hurled fire and brimstone on his head. Now she lay with him on an old blanket under the stars, her head on his chest, listening to the lap of lakewater in a moonless night, and words stuck in her throat.

 _I'm scared_ , she wanted to say. _I'm so scared._

She wanted to tell him and couldn't. Her world was about to change, and _he_ was one of the fixed points she didn't want to let go of.

Klaus was quiet, one hand tracing patterns on her back, seemingly content to wait for her to speak. If he'd prodded her, she might have crumbled and told him all: how scared she was, how uncertain. How worried that she would arrive at The Society and shrink into an insignificant speck among more worldly witches. How terrified that this might be the last time she lay in his arms like this.

At length, Klaus' deep voice broke the silence.

"Is there a reason you are nervous? Aside from being quite alone in the woods with _the_ proverbial wolf."

 _I'm afraid to leave. I'm afraid I don't want to leave._

 _I'm afraid you'll convince me to stay._

 _I'm afraid I want you to._

She took a breath and said, archly, "You're not _that_ terrifying."

"Is that so?"

"What's that phrase? All bark and no-,"

A gasp of surprise cut her words off as she found herself on her back, him looming above her. A wicked grin curved his mouth, and his eyes flashed gold, trailing over her neck. "Is that a challenge, little witch?"

He was teasing her, but she sensed the subtle promise behind his words, and was seized with a sudden sense of urgency that made it hard to breathe. Impulsively, she grabbed one of the necklaces dangling out of his shirt and tugged him down.

Klaus looked amused, as if to say, playing with fire are we?

She rather clumsily pushed her mouth against his, kissing him with all the unruly passion, the youthful abandon with which she had once tried to end him.

The kiss deepened. Her arms entwined his neck like ivy, clinging as he pushed her down on the blanket. She was melting into the moonless night and the breath of the forest and him. She was the soft riverbank, water sucking at her ankles. When Klaus' lips found her throat she arched up, offering him her leafy pulse. And now she was the warm dark sky, a star pulsing open each place he kissed.

A hundred twinkling thoughts filled her closed eyes. His hands trailed over her breasts and waist, drawing a heated gasp from her. When his fingertips started travelling up her calf, she raised her leg, her skirt falling away like water from the shoreline. Bonnie pushed herself into him, urging him on with her body, willing him to-

-but Klaus did not quicken in his ministrations.

She bunched her hands in his shirt, thrust her hips against him, offering herself in the only way she knew how. Finally, in a moment of recklessness, she reached for his belt buckle.

Klaus broke their kiss, his hand encircling her wrist before she could fumble with the clasp.

"Now now," he chided huskily,"what kind of hybrid do you think I am?"

She was breathless, her heart racing. "Don't - you want to...?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Do _you_ want to?"

She lifted her chin, drawing her knee up his side in a display of boldness she did not feel, "of course I do..."

Klaus lifted her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist, his warm breath fanning the sensitive skin, "Then why are you shaking like a leaf?"

"I'm _not_ shaking," she protested.

"Mmm, no of course not...," he murmured into her pulse, giving her a sidelong glance.

She tried to be flippant, but her shaky voice betrayed her, "Besides, aren't maidens _supposed_ to tremble? I'm pretty sure I read that in one of those Viking romance novels."

Klaus clucked against her wrist, "What have I told you about learning about Vikings from other sources?"

"That they're full of lies."

"Precisely," he flashed a seductive grin, "and in any case, you should at least let me undress you before the _serious_ tremors set in."

She smiled a little, some of the taut, stinging feeling ebbing from her skin as Klaus lowered his head to kiss the side of her jaw.

"Close your eyes."

Bonnie felt a shiver of deja vu. He had said those same words once, all those months ago when he first brought her here. His voice was different, deeper and softer, but no less commanding.

Her eyes fluttered shut. His hand stroked the inside of her thigh, light as a butterfly wing, making her sigh. The touch was hypnotic. When his fingers grazed her underwear, Bonnie gave a throaty sigh. For a few moments it was a delicate torture as he stroked her there, his lips buried in her neck and shoulder, taking his time, teasing her. Heat gathered between her thighs, and when at last he thumbed her clit she arched up, wetness seeping out of her slow and warm as honey.

She felt his whole body tense, and realized Klaus was not entirely unaffected by the way she was melting in his hand. His fingers easily bypassed the fabric of her panties, and then - _oh_.

Everything on her mind, all the serious words and thoughts she'd been harbouring to tell him, about The Society, her own fears, dissolved when Klaus edged his finger inside her. His touch was slow, almost lazy, coaxing in circles, unravelling her breath by breath.

It wasn't enough and entirely too much, both at once. She moved her hips feverishly, wanting more and more-

\- Bonnie almost sobbed in protest when he withdrew his hand, her eyes flying open to fix him with a burning look.

His own held a wicked glint as he carefully slipped off his daylight ring before burying his finger fully inside her. "There...," he breathed,"... _much_ better."

She gasped, her eyes falling closed as he began moving faster. " _Klaus_...,"

Now his pace was measured and relentless, and she couldn't have formed a complete thought if she tried. She was so very, very wet. She didn't think it was possible for anyone to be this wet. Her hands had a death grip on his shirt. She could've sworn the air was still as an indrawn breath, a thousand leaves unmoving, silent, watching. It was all too much, she wanted to shake off this unbearable feeling building at her center.

"Yes, yes...," she started moving her hips more insistently, her whole body crying out for him to finish it.

"Easy, sweetheart. You will get there," he promised, voice husky in her ear.

It only took a few swipes of his thumb across her clit. She came with a broken kind of moan, holding on to his neck, helpless to withstand the deep waves rocking her head to toe. Bonnie wanted to stay in this moment always, just her and him and the forest, her pleasure spilling across his hand, the lake lapping slowly at the throat of night.

She let her head loll on his shoulder, trying to catch her breath. The night was lush and content, somewhere little nocturnal creatures croaked and scurried, the leaves rustled, and the stars did not blink.

"Shall I take you home?" Klaus asked after several moments, stroking her back.

Bonnie tightened her arms around his neck, hiding her face there, absorbing the feel of him into memory.

Come morning, she knew what she had to do.

She whispered, "Not yet. "

* * *

"We need to get going."

Her escort from The Society was young, thin and coldly unimpressed with Mystic Falls.

Bonnie spared the woods one final glance. If she took three steps, her feet would find the dirt path trodden into shape by her and Klaus' visits. Another hour or so and beyond those trees, the lake would flush with sunrise.

For all the violence and chaos of the past few years, her hometown bid her a serene goodbye.

For a second, as she turned back to the car, her eyes caught a gleam of something, a sudden, startled movement. She had the strangest feeling of being _watched._

But there was nothing except a solitary raven, circling the morning sky.

* * *

 _A/N: And this concludes "No Soft Lights". I'm a little emotional because this story means a great deal to me, and it's my first completed multichapter Klonnie *throws confetti at self*. The sequel, "The Farthest Moon" is in the works and will start posting soon-ish, so keep an eye out for that._

 _This story really pushed me to grow as a writer, and so I would like to take a few minutes to thank those of you who also contributed to the process:_

 _Much love and huge thanks to my beta-bae Cait who helped me expand Bonnie and Klaus' world and read every chapter with beautiful thoroughness. Thanks also to **thefudgeisgrumpy** for being a fellow Sufjan in a Katy Perry world and keeping my spirits up through a wild semester. Thanks to **Chelleward** for always being ready to talk Klonnie headcanons and helping me get inside Klaus' head. Huge hugs to the Klonnie fam here and on Tumblr, y'all know who you are. Special mention goes to **bluemagicrose, thehedgerider, MaloryArcher, tehzo, , LadyMaurelle, ThoughHellShouldBartheWay, CheleOnRage712, AGDoren, mizgardenia21** , **TalulaJones** , and all the guest reviewers. My sincere apologies if I forgot anyone, but please know that your support means the world and helps keep me writing. I would also like to point out that many of the people mentioned here are wonderful writers for Klonnie and more, so do check them out and show some love._

 _As always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts!_


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